Two Worlds Collide
by ashlawnpb
Summary: Jason Kent and Wally West are asked to show a new boy around the school. Their resulting friendship will throw out some surprises as they discover a little more about their new classmate. Sequel to Becoming Superboy.
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE

I have been having nightmares. I have never been very good with change and moving from your home country to one thousands of miles away, is a massive change. Yes they speak the same language, but they have different food, TV programmes, lifestyles and the time difference to back home as well. I had tried to convince dad not to take the new job that would have him transferred, but he ignored me and said that it would be a fresh new start for us.

My nightmares had been getting darker as I imagined us being killed in the plane journey, or hostile locals carrying pitchforks and torches, angry that a family of Americans had moved in to their neighbourhood. It was all silly of course, nothing like that was going to happen, but the thought was still there and it was hard to shake.

There was nothing I could do to convince Mum and Dad that the move was a bad idea, so there I was aboard a British Airways flight to London and to our new life. Here is my story.

* * *

Thank you very much for reading, please rate and review. This is a sequel to 'Becoming Superboy'. I recommend reading that first.


	2. New Boy

"Jason, Wally I would like to ask you a favour please?" Mrs Richards, head teacher of the school attended by Jason Kent and Wally West, asked .

"Of course Mrs Richards, anything you want," Jason replied.

"Excellent. I have a young man here in your year group who has just moved to the school and today is his first day. He is a little late as you can see by the time, but I was wondering if you could help show him around this week and look after him."

"We would be happy to help," Wally replied.

"Fantastic, if you could come to my office, he is waiting for us there."

They followed Mrs Richards to her office, passing the classroom they were supposed to be going next. Mrs Richards held her door open, letting the two teenagers pass through, before she followed them, closing the door behind her.

"Jason, Wally, I would like you to meet Benjamin Parker, he has moved to the UK from America and will be joining us for the foreseeable future."

The three teenagers shook hands as they were introduced.

"Its great to have you here," Jason said. "Both my parents are American, but I have lived here for most of my life."

"I am also from the US, I moved here a few years ago," Wally added.

"There you see, you have nothing to worry about," Mrs Richards said comfortingly to Ben. "These two lads have been through exactly the same as you. Now lads, can you please take Benjamin on a tour of the school and make sure he is up to date on all of our policies regarding behaviour and fire safety. Thank you."

She dismissed us with a wave and we filed out of her office back into the corridor.

"Right, where should we head first?" Wally asked.

"I think we should start at the canteen and then branch off," Jason suggested.

"I have already been round the school once, I can remember everything from my last visit," Ben said, his accent clearly being heard.

"What do you want to do then? Jason asked.

"Tell me what it is like living here. How different is it from the States?"

"Well," Wally started, "the main thing I have found is the language. Yes we are all speaking English, but they speak English English, so you need to be careful over some words, as they mean different things over here. But also there are other little things like, remembering what side of the road they drive on and TV, that is very different."

"I remember going over to America and seeing the different style of food to what it is here," Jason said. "A lot of Americans will try and say the food in the UK is bad and not very nice, but it is really good."

"I agree with that, I thought the food would never be as good as at home, but boy they have some fantastic meals over here."

"Do you miss the States?" Benjamin asked.

"I do," Wally said, "because I still have family and friends over there, but you integrate so quickly and the British are really nice, especially around here."

"I just have my grandparents over in the States and as I said earlier have been here most of my life, so to me England is more of a home than America. But I suppose it will always be special as mum and dad come from there and it was where I was born," Jason said.

"Why did you move here?" Wally asked.

"My dad works for the Daily Bugle in New York and they have opened an office here in London and dad's boss wants him to run it."

"Wait, Parker," Wally thought."Is your dad the legendary Peter Parker, the guy who gets the photos of Spider-man?"

"Yeah he is, but please don't mention it to anyone. People keep asking if I have met him because my dad is supposed to his friend, but I haven't yet."

"Hasn't Spider-man disappeared though, it was on the news?" Jason asked.

"That is why dad was transferred here, his boss thought he was to valuable to lose, so wanted to keep him."

Jason looked down at his watch and saw the time.

"We better head back to class. What have you got Benjamin?"

"Ben please," he replied as he looked at his timetable. "I am supposed to be in Q2 for History with CBR?"

"That's where we are supposed to be, CBR is the teacher's initials. It is with Miss Bradshaw," Wally said.

The three lads headed off down the corridor and to there lesson, apologising for their lateness and explaining the reason why.

The afternoon's lessons sped by and the three teens met up outside of school at the end of the day.

"Thank you for looking after me this afternoon, I have to admit I wasn't looking forward to it, but you have helped me see that everything will be ok," Ben said.

"No problem, you have any worries, come and see us," Jason replied. "Have a good evening and we will see you tomorrow," he continued as a car pulled up beside them.

"That's my ride, see you both tomorrow," Ben waved as he moved off to the waiting car.

"Bye," both Jason and Wally chorused together.

They watched as the car moved off and then they too headed home chatting about the day and what they would be getting up to that evening.


	3. Nightmare

Ben sat in the car as his dad drove him away from school, back to their new house.

"So how was school today? What grade are you in here?" Peter Parker asked.

"It was great, I met two people, Jason and Wally, who are both Americans who came to live over here. They are really friendly and have offered to help me around. As for the 'year group' as they call it, I am in year 10, which I think is our 9th grade."

"That's great to hear you have had a good day. I was so worried that you wouldn't like the school after you had put up so much resistance when we over over here."

"Jason and Wally made me realise that it will have its benefits and they both seem pretty happy here."

"And so they should, London is a wonderful city with lots of history intertwined in its streets, the old and new stretching back almost 1000 years. You never get that back in New York."

They carried on their journey home chatting about what they wanted to go and see on their tourist tour on the Saturday, both of them listing a long list of London sights from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Palace and Nelson's Column.

Peter turned the car into their drive and stopped the engine. They both climbed out of the vehicle and walked into the luxury house that they had moved into, paid for by the very generous and completely unexpected donation of J. J. Jameson. They had brought some things over with them, but most things like electrical equipment had to be bought new, because of the different plugs. The Parkers had settled nicely into their new home, with Peter and Mary-Jane decorating it to feel like they were back home in the States.

"Hello dear, how was your day?" Mary-Jane asked Ben.

"It was great thanks," he replied and went on to tell her what he had recounted to Peter.

When they had done, Mary-Jane went off with Peter to prepare the dinner, whilst Ben went to complete the two pieces of homework that he had been set for that night.

Just as he finished the last bit of his Chemistry work, Mary-Jane called up to him that the dinner was ready. He put a full stop at the end of the sentence he was writing, then ran downstairs to the kitchen where dinner was laid out on the table. The Parkers sat down and discussed the rest of their day and what the plans for tomorrow were and then moved off after the dinner to various activities. Ben went and played on his x-box, Peter went to finish some work for the Bugle and Mary-Jane went to watch the television.

At ten o'clock, Peter walked into his son's room and told him it was time for bed, because it was a school night. Begrudgingly, Ben accepted the request and began to turn off the TV and x-box. He cleared up his desk and put the homework into the awaiting school bag, ready for tomorrow's lessons. He stripped down to his boxers, placing the dirty clothes into the laundry basket, revealing a relatively skinny body, with not a lot of muscle or weight on him. He climbed into bed, switched off the light and pulled the duvet up to his neck. Now that he was in bed, he definitely felt tired. It didn't help that his body was still adapting to the change in time from America.

Before he knew it he was asleep, the darkness folding over him, like a blanket, taking him from the real world, to the one of dreams and nightmares. And the latter is the one he got, the most horrifying nightmare he had ever had. He was being attacked from all sides by a mystery force. The darkness that surrounded him hid the attackers, only their red shining eyes shine through alerting him to their presence. Several pairs of eyes just staring at him, all the evil in the world seemed to be in them as they dived forward and began to attack him once more. Blood began to pour out of his body from their beating and the most horrifying part of all, they tried to climb inside of him and one managed to, squirming inside of him, wrapping itself around his organs and fusing to his body. The sensation was causing him pain and disgust. His body then seemed to start to heal, the wounds closing, the blood drying and disappearing off of his skin. The skinny form of his body began to transform, the skeleton strengthening, his muscles began bubbling as they grew to give him the perfect torso, one any male model would die for to just happen. The power that coursed through his veins made him feel so good. A mirror appeared before him in the dream and he looked into it, seeing before him the new him and he liked it. However he barely recognised him, his body looking like that of someone who had been working out for years to achieve it.

Just as he was admiring himself, he jolted awake, covered in sweat and panting. He looked down at his bare chest and saw to his dismay, the same skinny body that he went to bed with earlier. He looked at the clock and saw it was only 3 o'clock and turned back over and went back to sleep, forgetting about the nightmare and not being plagued anymore.

* * *

Earlier that evening in the Kent household over dinner, Jason had likewise told his parents about his day and the new boy that had joined the school.

"Oh that's lovely, we should invite them round for dinner, they must have no friends over here in London if it was a quick move," Lois said.

"Absolutely," Clark replied. "It would give us a chance to look at the opposition as well."

"Clark!" Lois scalded.

"What? He is opening a new paper here and I want to know what he is planning so that we don't lose readers."

"He isn't coming around to be scrutinised, this is about making friends, not enemies. I am sure our loyal readers will stay and he will poach those from the other ones who seem to be more like gossip columns, than newspapers. I am sure the Daily Mail and Sun could do with losing some readership."

"You are at it now mum," Jason said, glee spread across his face as he watch the back and forth comments from his parents.

"Oh be quiet you, but you know what I mean, if they come round, we are to leave work out of it and just talk as friends."

"Of course dear," Clark nodded, a little smile edging over his 'serious' face. "Jason, perhaps you could ask Ben tomorrow if he would like to to come around the day after tomorrow for dinner?"

"Yeah sure, what time should I say?"

"I think 6 o'clock should be a decent time," Lois replied.

"6 o'clock it is then," Clark reiterated.

They finished up their dinner and cleared away the table, Jason then heading to his room to finish his homework and then watch his TV, whilst his parents went into the living room and sat together on the sofa, watching their TV.

Suddenly a flashing red light appeared over the living room TV causing Clark to jump up.

"Sorry dear, I have to go," he said.

"That's alright I understand," Lois said. She was so used to this by now that I no longer bothered her. Any way, she loved to see her husband dressed in his skintight suit, it was quite erotic.

"What is it," Clark said putting his finger to his ear, activating a small communicator secreted there.

_"There has been an attack on an oil platform in the Atlantic, hostages have been taken,"_ the voice on the other end said.

"Ok, I will be there shortly."

Superman had recently helped to found the Justice League of America, a group of superheroes working together to protect not just America, but the world. Although he in is alter ego is has in England, as Superman, he could travel around the world in no time at all. He ran upstairs, passing Jason's room.

"What is it Dad? Do you need my help?"

"There has been an attack on an oil platform in the Atlantic and no you can't come and help. It is a school night and you need to be going to bed."

"Aww come on," Jason pleaded.

"No, the Justice League can handle it."

That was that, end of the conversation. Clark ran into his room and ripped off his clothing to reveal, man of steel's costume below. With incredible speed, Superman left the room, in a flash of blue, through the open window in Lois and Clark's bedroom.

Jason stood in his doorway, his costume still changing shape from his school uniform to that of his Superboy suit. Rather than stop it, he let it continue until he resembled his dad. The main colour of the suit was a darker, navy blue than the original worn by Superman, with a slight rubbery texture to it. Unlike Clark's costume, Jason's didn't have the red underpants, but still had a gold coloured belt that was in the original design. On the chest area sat the Superman logo. It was a rubber textured piece, slightly raised up from the rest of the suit. Jason's suit didn't have a cape, but instead, because he doesn't wear glasses, there was a mask. He left the mask from forming over his head and went back and lay on his bed. Jason's suit was symbiotic, meaning it was 'alive' and reacted to his thoughts. It is able to change to be any clothing he wants, so he San wear it in public and nobody would be aware.

There was a sound at his bedroom door and he turned his head to see Lois standing there.

"He wouldn't let you go huh?" She asked.

"No, it is so unfair, I get all these new powers and he won't take me out a lot to use them."

Lois walked over to the bed and sat down facing her son.

"It isn't that he doesn't want you, but that he wants you do be concentrating on your normal life. To him, your friends and school are more important. He didn't become Superman until he was an adult, so he wants you to try and follow that example. I can't imagine what it is like to have these powers and not be able to use them but I can understand the wishes of a teenager. That is at least one thing I have experienced in this family."

"Thanks mum, I do understand, I just find it so boring not able to do anything."

Lois reached over to her son and rubbed his leg.

"That tickles," Jason said.

"Does it, it never used to?"

"Yeah, it doesn't help I am wearing 'tights'. The material feels wearied against my skin when you do that."

"That is something I never imagined my son would say, he is "wearing tights"."

They laughed a bit as Lois told Jason about some of the times she had met Clark as Superman and how she loved the feel of his suit against her skin.

"That was something I found so attractive about your dad and many women love a guy with big muscles in a skin tight suit."

"I'll bear that in mind," Jason said, as they both burst out laughing again.

"What are you talking about?" Superman said as he walked dingo the room, a faint whiff of burning oil coming off of him.

The look on his face sent Lois and Jason back into fits of laughter, as Jason's suit started to change back into his school uniform.

"What?" Clark asked, puzzled by his wife and son's reaction.

"Never mind dear, we were just talking," Lois said as she stood up and walked over to her husband, giving him a hug. "Wow, you need to go and have a shower and put that suit in the wash."

Clark lifted his arm and smelt his suit.

"Ah yes, while I do that, Jason you need to be going to bed and Mrs Kent, I will see you in the bedroom soon."

"Dad! Not in front of me!" Jason cried.

"Aren't we just that most embarrassing parents?" Lois asked.

"Yes!" Jason cried.

With that, his parents left the room allowing Jason some peace and privacy to get ready for bed. He removed his uniform, which promptly turned back into his Superboy suit and he laid it on his chair. The beauty of the suit was that is designed to never have to washed, as it is self cleaning. A clever piece of technology his Kryptonian grandparents had built, in when they designed it. He climbed into bed and pulled the covers over him. He turned off his light and turned on his side and closed his eyes. He could not wait to ask Ben over to dinner tomorrow. He wanted to have a chance to get to really know him.


	4. Dinner

**If you haven't done so already, I recommend you read my stroy, 'Becoming Superboy' before this chapter, otherwise the end of this and the next chapter, will make no sense and you will wonder why it suddenly changes adding something which looks like it has no relevance to the plot.**

**Thanks.**

* * *

Two days late, the evening of the meal, the Parker trio were preparing to go round to dinner at the Kent's. Ben stood in his room adjusting his tie and making sure his suit had no creases in it, so as to impress Mr and Mrs Kent. Peter and Mary-Jane were downstairs applying the final touches to a pudding that they had insisted they take.

"Ben are you ready dear!?" Mary-Jane called upstairs, as she brought the pudding through from the kitchen.

"Just coming!" he shouted back as he finished tying his shoe laces up.

Ben galloped downstairs and came to a stop right by the door as Peter grabbed the car keys and started to move out of the house.

Over in the Kent household, they were busy making the final preparations to the dinner table and the food that they were to be having. On tonights menu was French onion soup for starter, roast beef and Yorkshire Puddings for main and a selection of puddings, including the Parkers for desert.

"Clark, have you got the meat ready and carved?" Lois asked.

"I have just finished it," Clark replied as he placed the carved meat back into the oven on a low temperature to keep it warm.

Jason had invited Wally over to introduce to the Parkers and they were busy finishing off the living room, making sure that it was tidy and presentable for the coming guests. Wally had become like a brother to Jason, especially as they had a common heritage in America and also because of the secret they each held over their powers.

Just as they finished moving the last object to its secret hiding place for the night, the doorbell rang, alerting the household that their guests had indeed arrived.

"Jason, could you grab the door!" Lois called.

Jason walked to the door and as he did so, remembered the friendly advice his dad had told him and Wally earlier.

"Remember to be careful with your powers tonight, you are still getting used to them and they may come out if you are not concentrating. We don't want to expose ourselves."

With that advice locked into his mind, Jason opened the door to reveal the Parkers standing on his doorstep.

"Hello, welcome come in," he said. "My name is Jason and this is my friend Wally," he introduced each of them to Peter and Mary-Jane.

"Hello Jason," Peter said enthusiastically, "It is great to be here. Please call me Peter and this is my wife, Mary-Jane."

"Oh hi, welcome to our home," Lois said as she entered the hallway, pulling her apron off, slinging it to one side, and extending her hand out to Peter's. "I'm Lois and my husband Clark is just in the kitchen finishing off the soup."

"You have a lovely home here," Peter said.

"Why thank you, it is a lovely area around here, very different from our old home back in Metropolis. Anyway, please come in out of the doorway. Go and take a seat in the living room, I am sure Wally and Jason can get you some drinks."

As they filed through, Mary-Jane handed Lois the pudding they had brought.

"Is there anything you need help with," she offered.

"No no, please we have everything covered. You have already done more by making this lovely looking pudding. Thank you."

With that, they went into the living room and sat on the sofa, whilst Jason and Wally served their drinks.

"So lads, how have you found adapting to life over here in the UK?" Peter asked.

"I think it is fantastic," Wally said. "You always get people telling you how bad moving to another country can be and how bad the food is and how rude the people are, but I have not found that here. It helped having Jason as he has similar circumstances in moving over from the Sates, but everyone was s welcoming."

"I have been here most of my life and only have minor memories of life in America, but I really like it over here. It has so much history and beauty you don't necessarily get in America," Jason added.

"I have to agree with you," Peter stated. "I find London just wonderful with the buildings dating back to the time of William the Conqueror, right through to some of the most modern like the Shard, being all mixed together. History alive I say."

At that moment, Clark walked in to the room to introduce himself to the guests.

"You must be Clark," Peter said. "I did not say this to your wife, but I have followed your articles for a long time and really admire you two as journalists."

"Why thank you. I have to say, your rise from a freelance journalist to the man who is running the London branch of the Daily Bugle to be quite an inspiration too."

Unbeknownst to the assembled group, Clark was secretly scanning his guests to ensure that they were not carrying any concealed weapons. He made sure that he wasn't looking at any private areas, but when he came to Peter, he almost did a visible double take. Underneath Peter's shirt, there was something very familiar to Clark. He was wearing a Spiderman costume. Peter Parker is Spiderman, how could he have not seen it before. The fantastic pictures taken at impossible angles for a regular human and often right in the middle of the action, right where people could be killed.

"I must thank you to," Peter said to Clark's compliment.

Before anyone could say anything, Lois walked into the room and spoke.

"Dinner is served, you can come and sit up at the table."

They all rose from their seats and filed through to the dinning room and took direction as to where to seat themselves. Lois and Clark brought out the food and served it to everyone before sitting down themselves and tucking in.

"This is wonderful soup," Mary-Jane said. "Probably the best I have ever had, so moreish."

"Thank you," Lois said.

As they ate, they talked about their experiences moving and living in the UK, before turning the conversation to Peter's new job at the Daily Bugle. Lois brought out the various deserts and laid them on the table.

"These look exquisite," Peter said. "I think desert is probably one of the best things the British do."

There were nods of agreement around the table.

They finished up and were coming to the end of the evening when something happened that destroyed the happy mood that had been building up.

"Thank you so much for a lovely evening," Peter said, as the Parker family stood in the living room, ready to leave.

Just as they turned to go, Jason noticed that Ben didn't look right.

"Ben are you ok?" He asked. As he finished his sentence and before Ben could answer, his knees buckled and he collapsed onto the floor.

"Ben!" Mary-Jane cried in shock.

Clark immediately was down on his knees feeling for a pulse. He also took a glance with his x-ray vision at the inner workings of his body. What he saw was that of a body shutting down. The organs were failing. Something was reacting with them, but the weird part was, it was changing his body. Almost as quickly as his organs were failing, they seemed to change and start to try and restart.

"He is alive, but I have never felt such a strange pulse," Clark said in a way as to not give away his ability to see through into Ben's body.

"We need a Doctor," Peter said desperately as he too got on his knees to look at Ben.

"We know a really good one, but we are not sure where he is," Lois said, trying to be helpful.

"What is happening to him? What's wrong?" Mary-Jane was starting to get quite stressed.

"Maybe I can help," a voice said behind them. "I hope you don't mind, I let myself in."

They turned around to look at the owner of the voice and there standing I front of them wearing his long brown overcoat, pinstriped brown suit, blue shirt and converses, was the Doctor. He had his Sonic Screwdriver held aloft, the tip lit blue and it was emitting a faint buzzing noise.

"You! What are you doing here?" Jason asked.

"I got a message on the physic paper asking for help."

The Doctor moved over to Ben who was still lying on the floor. He pulled out a pair of glasses and placed them on his face.

"Right, what seems to be the problem?"


	5. Stasis

**As mentioned in the previous chapter, I recommend that you read my other story 'Becoming Superboy' to get some of the references in this chapter. This is by far my biggest chapter yet in any of my stories.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The soft whirring of the Doctor's Sonic screwdriver rang through the room as he passed the device over the unconscious Form of Ben.

"Doctor, what is going on," Jason asked.

The Doctor looked up at him and then to the screwdriver to check the readings.

"You friend here is undergoing the most amazing genetic transformation I have ever seen. His DNA is actually rewriting itself with a dormant gene hidden in his biology. I am intrigued as to where this gene has come from, I do not recognise it as human one. It is almost animalistic in its construction and behaviour."

There was a look of unease on Peter and Mary-Jane's faces as well as a glint of knowledge and pride. Clark looked at how they reacted and noted it down. He would discuss it later with Jason and see what they should do.

"I need to get his body stabilised, so am going to take him to a special stasis chamber aboard my TARDIS," the Doctor said. "The best way to get him there would be to transmit him."

The Doctor pulled out a small device from his pocket and pointed it at Ben. Pressing a button, a blueish green light spilled forth and covered Ben's body. He promptly began to fade out of existence, until he was there no more.

"What have you done?!" Peter roared. "Where is my son?!"

"As I said, he is now aboard my ship. I will bring him back when I feel the genetic change has completed and he is no longer I any harm," the Doctor said calmly.

"And where is your ship?" Peter asked. "It would have to be a pretty small shop to fit in This area of London. What aren't you taking this seriously, where is my son?!"

"Mr Parker," Jason interrupted. "The Doctor isn't lying, his ship is pretty small, in fact you wouldn't believe what his ship can do. Trust him please, he knows what he is doing."

"Show me," Peter said bluntly.

"I am sorry?" the Doctor questioned.

"Show me your ship."

"Yes fine ok, look out of the window and across the street. There you will see a blue box with the words Police Public Call Box on it. That is my ship."

Peter went over to the window and looked out. He could see the box, but he still wasn't convinced.

"Now you are really taking the biscuit. That is far too small to be a ship."

"Right, I wasn't going to do this, but come and have a look at it," the Doctor said reluctantly.

He began to walk out the door, Peter, Mary-Jane, Jason and Wally following. Clark and Lois stayed behind as they had already seen inside and knew the Doctor was indeed telling the truth. They walked out of the house and over to the blue box. The Doctor pulled out a key and inserted it into the lock. Turning it, he pushed the door open and stepped inside, beckoning the Parkers to follow him. They looked at each other with surprise and moved forward into the box. The sight that greeted them was of a vast room, glowing in orange, with a large console unit in the centre.

"Yes, it is bigger on the inside, now if you want to see your son, you need to shut the door and follow me," the Doctor instructed as he moved further beyond the console room into a corridor.

Peter shut the door and they all followed the Doctor deeper and deeper into the TARDIS. They stopped outside a plain looking door as the Doctor searched in his pockets for the key. He found it and brought it out, placing it in the lock and turning it, the door pushing open. They walked inside to find another large room, but this time in the centre sat a large glass tube tilted at an angle and inside was Ben, half naked, wires all placed over his bare torso taking measurements and other readings.

"Ben," Peter said, rushing over to his son. "What is all of this, what are you doing?"

"I am stabilising his molecular structure. When foreign DNA attacks the human DNA, it can cause a violent reaction, which in some cases, can be too much for the individual. We see this in vampires, werewolves and superheroes. Their bodies can't always take it."

The Doctor looked at the Parker's faces and wondered why they hadn't reacted at the quite weird comments he had just said.

"Normally, regular people will question me over werewolves and vampires, but you seem to have dismissed my comments totally."

"Um, yeah, I suppose that is a bit weird," Peter stammered as he tried but failed to add surprise to his voice.

"Is their something you are not telling me, something that might help in his stabilisation?"

Peter glanced over at Jason and Wally standing by the door and relented opening his mouth to tell the Doctor.

"Have you heard of the superhero Spider-man?"

The Doctor nodded.

"Well," Peter said as he started to unbutton his shirt and pull it back to reveal his costume. "I am Spider-man, I went through something similar, but not this violent, when I got bitten by the spider that gave me my powers."

"That is because the DNA of the spider is fighting to survive. As you will know in biology, you get half of you genes from your dad and the other half from your mum. That means he has three quarters human DNA and one quarter spider. But the spider wants to survive, so it is attempting to change and mutate to strengthen. I have stopped it at just over half, so he is going to be more powerful than you, but also more at risk of the mutation starting again and fully consuming him."

"When will you finish stabilising him?" Peter asked.

"Soon, the advantage of the TARDIS is that it is a time machine, so we can harness the power of the time vortex and set the stasis chamber at a faster time speed than our own, allowing for the completion of the process in a fraction of the time in the rest of the planet."

As the Parkers watched their son, they saw the physical changes happening to his body right before them. Muscles rippled as they expanded, his body clearly strengthening and changing to the power being given by the spider DNA.

The Doctor moved around the room looking in some draws and cupboards for something in known to the Parkers, Jason and Wally.

"Give me a second, I just need to go and fetch something," the Doctor said as he moved out of the room back into the corridor.

Not long after he had gone, a strange sound emitted through the TARDIS and as quickly as it had started, it stopped. A little time passed and the same sound again sounded briefly throughout the ship. The Doctor then walked back into the room holding a box, which he then placed down on a table, before turning to face the cylinder holding Ben.

"He is almost done," he announced as he looked at a control panel attached to the cylinder. "I can soon release him. He may not be aware of what has happened and may also find the changes very disorientating. It might be helpful if you talked to him and told him everything. It is best that you as someone who has dealt with this, can help get him through."

"I will do anything to help him," Peter said.

"You may find that he has some different abilities than you, so you will, have to work together to work out what they do and how powerful he is. I am sure Jason and Wally over there can help out."

"We would gladly," Jason said.

"How can they help?" Mary-Jane asked. "They look perfectly normal."

"I can assure you, both Jason and Wally posses abilities that can help Ben."

"Like what?" Peter asked.

"I can travel faster than anything," Wally said.

"And I have super strength and can fly," Jason added, not wanting to give all his powers away.

"Do your parents know?" Peter asked.

"Mine do," Jason said.

"I haven't told mine yet," Wally said.

"Why not," Mary-Jane asked.

"I am not ready yet."

There was a loud ding, as though a microwave had just finished its cooking.

"He is done," the Doctor said.

He typed a few things onto the control panel and the cylinder began to split into two, the top length rising up towards the ceiling, allowing Ben access to the outside world. He began to stir from the sleep he had been in, his parents close ready for him to fully regain consciousness.

"Mum, dad, where am I?" Ben asked, his voice rasping.

"You are in a stasis chamber," the Doctor butted in. "Your body has been undergoing some major changes and you father has something to tell you in regards to that."

"Dad?"

"Ben, you remember that I covered the Spider-man cases when I was younger, taking his picture for the Bugle, well reason I got those amazing photos was because I am Spider-man."

Peter pointed towards his chest where the black spider on his costume was just visible between the gap in his shirt.

"The spider DNA from my genetics, is reacting in your body, giving you powers just like me. You reacted badly and the Doctor here has been helping your body to control it and survive."

"You're Spider-man?" Ben asked in disbelief.

"Yes I am. I stopped being so active when you were born, that is why you here very little about him anymore."

"Ben, can you sit up?" the Doctor asked.

"I can try."

Slowly with the help of his parents, Ben moved his body into a sitting position, as his body began to regain strength. As they were doing this, Ben got a glimpse at his 'new' body.

"Wow, I have abs. Where has all this muscle come from. I can feel the new strength course through my veins."

"I have a present for you," the Doctor said. "When I disappeared a few minutes ago," he addressed the others in the room, "I went to go and visit an old friend and ordered this." He held up the box that he had walked in with earlier. Jason looks at it with some familiarity.

The Doctor walked over to Ben and handed him the box.

"Inside here is something that you will come to find incredibly useful. It will help to maintain your mutation and stop it from going to far. Also, it will allow you to work with Jason and Wally to control your powers and learn to use them."

Ben opened the box and saw that it was bigger on the inside.

"How is it bigger on the inside?"

"Time Lord science. It comes from my people's planet and also the same science that makes this ship of mine bigger on the inside."

Ben looked back inside the box and saw a clothes rail on which several hangers where sitting. He lifted one off and pulled it out of the box. As he did so, he revealed a costume in the style of his dad's Spider-man suit. However there were some slight differences. The colours of the costume were slightly more vivid, the webbing a little thinner than Peter's and the material was slightly shinier, as though it was made of something different. He ran his hand over the suit as he felt the pride fill his body at the responsibility being given to him.

"Where are the web shooters?" Peter asked.

"As I said, Ben's powers are slightly different to yours and he has the ability to self generate webbing from his wrists," the Doctor said.

Ben looked down at his writs and saw two small slits where a tiny amount of white fluid was poking out of each of them.

"This is so cool," Ben said in glee.

"This is to be taken seriously," the Doctor said. "The power you have will enable you to help protect others around you, but it can also be used for bad. There will be people who will try and find out your true identity and go after those you love. You have to be sure you want to do this and be prepared to make the necessary decisions and listen to those who are more experienced in the field."

"Who are you and why should I listen to you?" Ben asked.

"Ben!" Mary-Jane cried in horror at her son's rudeness.

"It is a fair point, you were out cold when I introduced myself earlier. I am the Doctor, I am a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. I am nine hundred and forty years old and I have saved this planet and all 7 billion people hundreds of times. Have you got a problem with me telling you what to do?"

Ben looked rather sheepish as the Doctor finished.

"No, I suppose not."

"Good. Let's get you back to the house, you are fully recovered now."

The Doctor walked over to Ben and handed him back his shirt, before helping him out of the capsule. He gathered together a few items into his pockets and led the five of them out of the TARDIS, back onto the street. Ben looked behind him at the blue box they had just walked out of.

"It really was bigger in the inside!"

"Rule 4, the Doctor doesn't always lie."

Clark and Lois were waiting on the steps of their house watching the group as they talked by the TARDIS. They both came over and offered some words of advice to the Parker parents. The three boys arranged to meet the next day to work with Ben on learning his new abilities.

Soon after the Parkers left in their car and Lois and Clark headed back into the house, leaving Wally, Jason and the Doctor standing out on the pavement.

"So you did survive the trip into the eye of harmony," the Doctor said.

"Hang on, you acted like you didn't know what was going to happen when he came back?" Wally queried.

"Rule one, the Doctor lies."

But rule four?" Jason asked.

"Rule one overrides all other rules. As a Time Lord I have to be responsible with the use of time travel and what information I pass on to others, especially when they meet past or future versions of myself. This meeting allows me to move on and know what to do to save you."

"How do you know that, I haven't told you anything?" Jason asked.

"The TARDIS took a reading of your suit. All your suits have a hive mind where they share information, so if one is lost, then the next one has all the necessary info at its hands. Good luck Jason and Wally, I doubt we shall meet again. Look after Ben, you will be crucial in helping him to succeed. Be prepared for what is to come."

"What is to come?" Wally asked.

"I can't say, but all three of you will need your suits, they will be able to interact and help you. Find their secrets and use them to save the day."

With that, the Doctor turned and walked back into the TARDIS. He shut the door and moments later the engines whirred into life and the light on top began to flash as the machine faded in and out of existence, until there was no sign of the blue box left. Wally and Jason walked back to the house and said their good byes as they headed off to their beds.


	6. Grown up

**Enjoy, this is the longest chapter yet!**

* * *

Ben woke up from his deep sleep and lay in his bed as he thought through the events of the previous night. He felt great, the strength running through his veins, giving him a sense of power he had never felt before as a scrawny child. He moved the duvet down to reveal his very toned torso, his abdominal muscles, clearly visible and very defined. From what he could remember, his transformation had been painful and terrifying, the rest, he had blacked out.

Questions where racing through his head about why he had only just got his powers and how long had his dad been hiding his secret identity?

There was a knock on his bedroom door as it started to open. He threw his duvet back over himself and waited for the door to open fully to see which of his parents were about to walk in.

"Hey sweetheart, how are you doing?" Mary-Jane asked, as she walked in carrying a breakfast tray laden with Ben's favourite breakfast treats.

"Just trying to get over what happened last night," Ben replied.

"I think that all though your dad and I knew we would have to tell you one day, we didn't expect it to happen quite like that. I just hope we didn't freak out the Kents," Mary-Jane said as she sat on the end of Ben's bed, passing him the tray.

"Thanks. I think they may be used to it with Jason having powers. I have to say, it is pretty cool having Spiderman as a dad."

"That was one of the reasons that really attracted me to him," Mary-Jane said. "He was always so secretive as a teenager and mysterious, turning up late and disappearing whenever trouble turned up. When he told me I was really excited to be dating a superhero, but I couldn't tell anyone, not even Aunt May knew before me. You need to be sure that you are ready to take on this mantel, sure that you can have a secret identity that no one but the people you sincerely trust, can know."

Ben thought for a moment at his mother's points, weighing the pros and cons of being a superhero.

"If Jason and Wally can do it, then I can as well. They said they will help me."

"That is true, as long as you are sure, I think your father wanted to wait a bit longer for you to get your powers and then ultimately use them. After all he went through, he thinks it is best to start as an adult. A teenager is a bit young for some of the horrors that he faced."

"I will be fine, as the Doctor said, I have stronger powers than dad, I will be able to look after myself."

Mary-Jane smiled inside with pride at her son's bravery and willingness. Deep down she was scared for him, worried that he might be badly hurt or even killed, but there was a glimmer of hope and joy at his acceptance of what could happen.

Mary-Jane stood up to leave and rested her hand on Ben's muscular arm.

"We will always support you in whatever choice you make on this matter. You don't have to become a superhero if you don't want to, but it would be best to go and have Jason and Wally help you learn your powers and build up control of them."

"Thanks mum," Ben said.

Mary-Jane smiled, turned and walked out of his room, leaving Ben to eat his breakfast and get changed.

After Ben had finished the last of his food, he placed the tray down on the floor next to his bed and swung himself out from under his duvet and placed his feet on the carpet. He stood and walked over to his desk, where last night he had left the 'bigger on the inside' box that the Doctor had given him. He had placed the loose costume inside of it to keep it safe and pulled it out to have another look. As he did so, something fell to the floor. An envelope that he hadn't seen the previous night. He picked it up and sat down on his desk chair, before opening it up. Inside there was a letter addressed to him.

The letter read:-

Dear Ben,

I have already given you your costume and talked briefly about your powers, but now I want to explain a little more about what your suit can do.

The suits are designed to be as indisputable as possible, with a few exceptions, which I won't list here, they are not relevant. They are of a symbiotic level, meaning they are able to interact with you at a mental level. They are essentially alive, so be nice to them. They are designed to be worn as your regular clothes, because they are able to morph at will into any other clothing that you want. You simply have to put on the suit and then think of what you want to wear and it will become that.

There are also some hidden features, but as with Jason and Wally, I leave you to find them out as some will revel themselves when you need them. The last thing to tell you is that the suit will help keep your powers from going out of control. You are more powerful than your dad and there may be a problem with your powers going out of control. This will endeavour to stop that from happening.

Enjoy your new powers and remember a great man once said "With great power, come great responsibility."

The Doctor

Ben read the words over and over, absorbing the information and tried to contain his excitement at what the suit had to offer. He pulled the suit towards him and felt the lovely texture of the material. Even though he had not yet tried it on, it already felt as thought it would be very comfortable. With that thought in his head, he thought it would be a good idea to try it on and see if it would be a good fit. He began to pull the costume on, adjusting it to fit the new contours of his body. It was certainly tight and felt very nice against his skin. He was reminded of an episode of the Simpsons where Ned was wearing a skin tight suit and said it felt like he was wearing 'nothing at all'. He managed to zip it up and the last piece was the mask.

He moved in front of a large mirror that sat on the back of his bedroom door and looked at himself. He could bot believe that the person looking back at him was himself. Never before had be thought he would be wearing such a revealing suit. He pulled the mask over his face and tucked it in to the neck of the suit. As he finished, a line of white light appeared all around his neck and the mask seemed to melt into the suit to become one complete piece. The zip had also seemed to melt away. How was he going to get out of the suit? Was he stuck in it?

He tried to calm down and imagined the suit having a zip and suddenly one appeared. He remembered what the Doctor had written in the letter, that the suit responded to his mental thoughts.

"Cool," Ben said out loud.

There was a knock at the door and it opened.

"Ben I have a little gift for you, I have been saving it for now, but I suppose it is probably not necessary now," Peter explained as he walked through the door.

He stopped in his tracks as he saw his son standing in the middle of the room dressed in the suit that the Doctor had given him.

"Oh," Peter deflated. His hands dropped to his side and Ben saw that he was carrying a copy of his own Spiderman suit.

"Dad, it is great, I would love to have that suit as well, I could use that one when we go out together."

Peter's face lit up slightly. He handed Ben the suit and they both went and sat on the bed. Ben imagined the mask being free and pulled it off, placing it next to him.

"How does it feel?" Peter asked.

"Powerful," Ben replied.

"Yes, that was a feeling I had. I became Spiderman after Uncle Ben had died in an attempt to get revenge against his killer. Before that, I used my powers to try and get money in a wrestling competition. I used my powers for self gain, but I soon learnt that that was not what I should be doing. I was given these powers to help others and stop bad people from hurting not only the people I loved, but anyone who got in their way. You now have the same responsibilities and choices. You can choose to do nothing and never use your abilities, you can go and use them for self gain or to help those less fortunate than yourself. Choose wisely. Uncle Ben always used to say, "With great power, comes great responsibility." I have never forgotten those words and always think of them every day."

Ben suddenly realised that he had seen those words in the letter that the Doctor had written. He had been to see Uncle Ben. He wondered what they had talked about.

Ben picked up the suit his father had brought in and looked at it.

"You wore this didn't you!" he said.

"This was mine for a brief time, it was one of the least used suits as I grew a lot one year."

"Thanks dad," Ben leaned over and hugged Peter.

Peter stood up and left Ben sitting on the bed as he thought of what was to come and the legacy he was now part of.

He heard the front door close and his mum called up the stairs.

"Ben, you have two visitors!" Mary-Jane called up. She quietened her voice as she spoke to the visitors. "Go straight upstairs, he is in his room."

There were footsteps on the stairs and soon they were standing at Ben's door. Jason and Wally stood there waiting to be invited in.

"Hey, good to see you both, come in," Ben said.

"Looking good in your suit their," Wally said. "How does it feel?"

"Really comfortable," Ben replied.

"Does your suit adapt to become any clothing you want it to?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, it is supposed to, I just haven't tried it yet."

"Just concentrate and think of any style you want and the suit should respond," Jason said.

Ben thought carefully and decided that he wanted a red polo shirt with horizontal yellow stripes going across it, a pair of dark blue jeans and no socks or shoes. As he thought carefully, the suit began to start changing colours and changing feel and style, until he was left with his desired attire.

"Awesome," Ben said as he looked down at what his suit had become. "What if I accidentally start to think about my suit again? Will it turn back when I don't want it to?"

"No, it knows when you are seriously thinking about it needing to change, it stops you revealing your secret identity in public," Wally explained.

"So how are you going to help train me to use my powers?" Ben asked.

"We have a secret base set up where we will test you out," Jason said.

"When are we going there?"

"Today if you want."

"Sure, I will just check with mum and dad."

Ben raced down stairs to speak to his parents. While he was doing that, Wally and Jason had a look around his room. Wally picked up the discarded mask that lay on Ben's bed.

"He got quite a cool suit from the Doctor. Where does he get these from?" Wally asked.

"Well he got mine from my grandparents on Krypton, but I am not sure where yours or Ben's came from."

They heard footsteps on the stairs and Wally dropped the mask back onto the bed. Ben walked back into his room.

"Hey, mum and dad say it is fine, but I need to be back in time for dinner."

"Yeah, we should be back for that," Jason said.

"How are we going to get there?" Ben asked.

"Well Wally can run there and I can fly, but you wouldn't be able to get there using your powers, so you would need to hitch a lift with me if that is ok?"

"If that is the only way of getting there, then I suppose it is ok."

"Ok then, suit up and we will get going."

The three lads stood in Ben's bedroom and almost simultaneously, their clothes began to alter and form in to their costumes until within seconds, they stood their suited and booted. Ben reached over to his bed and picked up his mask, pulling it over his head.

"Cool suits," he said to Jason and Wally. "How are we going to get out unseen?"

"We both move pretty fast, so I hope you have a strong stomach," Jason said.

"Yeah, it takes so e really strong stuff to get me queasy."

"Right we are going to leave through the front door. Wally if you could speed downstairs and open the door and then speed backwards out of sight. Me and Ben will then speed out and you can follow. Is that ok?"

"Sounds good," Wally said.

"Whatever you need to do," Ben said.

The three lads walked down to the hallway and prepared themselves.

"Ben if you jump on my back, that way I can run out and then take off. I hope that is not to awkward for you. I know it is not the most ideal way of doing it."

"Yeah it is a bit strange, but I have faith in you," Ben replied.

"Ok Wally, let's go," Jason said as Ben piggybacked on him.

Wally sped to the door fast as lightning and opened it and a split second later, Jason darted out at speed and took off as he reached the end of the Parker's driveway.

"Hold on tight!" he cried to Ben.

"I am!" Ben cried back.

Back on the ground, Wally darted out, shut the door and sped off following Jason and Ben.

As they left, Mary-Jane and Peter stood at their living room window watching the three teenagers leave and both of them had a small smile and the feeling of pride swelling inside for their son.

"He looks so grown up in that suit," Peter said.

"I never thought this day would come and it has. I am so happy for him," Mary-Jane said.

The Parkers moved away from the window and back to what they were doing before and the lads disappeared into the distance at super human speed.


	7. Super Testing

The view was amazing as Jason and Ben flew across the UK and then the sea as the air around them began to get colder and colder. Soon more land appeared covered in snow and ice, the temperatures really plummeting. Jason began to descended towards a large building that looked to be formed out of huge crystals. They touched down and Ben jumped off of Jason's back, landing with a crunch in the snow.

"Wow it is cold here," Ben said, his teeth chattering.

"When we get into the fortress, you will warm up. Wally will be here in a sec."

"You should have told me to get some thermals to wear under this suit."

"Don't worry, your suit should have some thermal capacity, though it may need time to kick in."

Suddenly a red and yellow flash appeared and Wally was soon standing next to them.

"Shall we head in?" he asked.

"Might as well," Jason said.

They trudged through the snow and to the large door, where Jason opened the door through various means. As soon as they were inside and the door had shut, warmth spread over the three of them, there freezing bodies beginning to regain the heat they so wanted.

They were stood in a large cavern which Ben was amazed by. Jason headed over to a platform where there looked like a bunch of control panels were laid out.

"Ok first I want to do a strength test," he said. "If you go and stand over there, I will lower down a series of weights and test how much you can take. The second you are struggling, say and I will remove it."

Ben walked over to where Jason had pointed and stood on a clearly marked spot, waiting for Jason to start the test.

"Ok raise your arms, I am lowering the first weight."

Ben did as instructed and looked upwards as a huge metal plate descended towards him. The plate landed in his open palms and he took it with no problems at all. Jason added a further three weights and Ben still stood relatively comfortably.

"Wow, you are going to be on my weight level on the next one," Jason said.

"How much am I lifting?" Ben asked.

"Three hundred tonnes."

"Wow, how am I doing that?"

"Your powers seem to be really strong, it is quite amazing what you are doing. Ok, I am. Going to add another one hundred tonnes."

Ben readied himself as the next weight lowered into place, his legs barley shaking from the strain.

"I am going to add smaller weights now," Jason called over.

Ben nodded as smaller weights began to be added. Slowly he started to struggle and called over to Jason.

"Ok, that is enough for me. What did I get to?" he asked as the weights began to rise and he moved out from underneath them.

"You got to four hundred and seventy tonnes, that is just over my limit. Well done."

"That felt amazing, I can't believe I am that strong."

"Trust me, you never get bored with what you can do with your powers," Wally said.

"Ok then, what next?" Ben asked.

"Now I want to test your reactions. I am going to get Wally to throw some tennis balls at you and i want to see how many of them you can catch."

They took up there positions and Wally began the tennis ball offensive. Ben moved from side to side catching all the balls effortlessly, not missing a single one thrown at him.

"Ok it seems you are pretty good with your reaction times and also at catching, so I think we will have to move on to the target practice. The Doctor mentioned you can shoot organically produced webs, so I want you to see if you can fire a line of web at each target."

"How do I make the webbing?" Ben asked.

"How does Spiderman do it?" Wally asked.

"Well from what I have seen, he makes this shape with his hands." Ben demonstrated the shape and gave his wrist a slight flick. Suddenly a short burst of webbing leapt from his wrist and flew off into the distance.

"Wow, cool!" Wally exclaimed.

"Ok, here comes the targets," Jason said.

Ben took aim and began to fire at each target, using both of his hands. The webs flew effortlessly from his wrists and hit every target Jason set for him.

"Excellent, you seem to be much better than we thought you would be," Jason said. "You are hitting everything with pin point accuracy, how are you doing that?"

"There seems to be something in my head which just tells me where to point and when to do it."

"I think I recognise that," Wally said. "I remember reading something about Spiderman having something similar."

Wally began to type something into one of the panels and a hologram screen appeared above it.

"My dad has this?"

"Yeah, here it is. In an interview he gave as Spiderman, he said he calls it his 'spider sense' and it allows him to sense when danger is around and it allows him to know precisely where to send his webs to allow him to fight and swing around the buildings."

Ben had walked up behind Wally and Jason to see what had been pulled up on the screen.

"Excellent, I imagine that will come in quite useful," he said.

"Yeah, I wish I could have that," Jason said. "It would solve all sorts of problems."

Ben looked over at one of the panels and saw the time. With all the fun they had been having, the time had flown by and he needed to get back home.

"Um, I need to be going. I have to be back for dinner," he said to the lads.

"Right, I suppose we ought to go then. Are you alright to go back as we came?" Jason asked.

"Sure, it is the best way."

Jason powered down the consoles and they walked back to the main door where Jason opened it up allowing the icy air of the Arctic in.

"Wally if you head round to the nearby park and change, then go and knock on the Parker's door, we will fly in through it," Jason planned.

"Sure, hover overhead if you beat me. Doubt you will though."

"You're on," Jason replied just before in a blur of yellow and red, Wally sped off into the distance.

Ben and Jason walked out of the cavern and Jason locked and sealed the door. They reassumed their positions from the first journey and took off heading back to their homes in London.

The familiar green land of Britain soon came into view and the high rise buildings of London followed. They flew over Ben's house and spotted the ginger mop of Wally's hair rounding the street corner on his way to know on the door. Mary-Jane opened the door and after a brief explanation, Jason used his super hearing to know when to enter and flew right down and through the door into the Parker's hallway. Wally shut the door behind them.

"How has your day been honey?" Mary-Jane asked.

"Great thanks, they really tested me," Ben replied.

"He did very well, much better than we thought," Jason said as his suit began changing back into his normal clothes.

Ben noticed this and pulled his mask off and began to imagine himself wearing the polo shirt and jeans again.

"That sounds excellent, you will have to tell your dad later, he has had to go and visit the office for a last minute meeting."

"Will he be back for dinner?" Ben asked.

"I don't know, we will have to see."

"Well, I need to go. Thank you very much for letting us help Ben. We would love to hang out again soon," Jason said.

"No, thank you for work, I would love you to come round again. Just ask Ben and you are most welcome."

"I will head off to, thanks again," Wally said.

They headed to the door and said their final goodbyes before heading home. As they lived on the same street, Jason and Wally walked home together.

"He did very well today, much better than either of us could the day after we got our powers," Jason said.

"I guess with his powers being more powerful than ours and with his heightened 'spider sense', his body has just got used to them quicker and more unconsciously than we could."

"Yeah, I think we should run a few more of dad's tests on him just to see how powerful he actually is."

They reached Jason's house and they both parted and went in to their own houses. There was much more to come between these three lads and they were only just getting started.


	8. Trafalgar Square

Two weeks on from their first training session at the base in the arctic, the three teenage heroes were standing with the rest of their class in the PE changing rooms at school. They were gathered around the notice board telling them what sports they would be studying for the next half term up to christmas. As there was such a crowns round the board, Jason had volunteered to go and look for all three of them. He soon found their names on the list and wondered back over to Ben and Wally.

"So, what have we got then?" Wally asked. "A nice indoor sport where we can stay in the warm, or an outdoor one where we will freeze in their really cold snowy weather?"

Over the last week, temperatures had fallen and snow was crossing the country. It hadn't been this cold in a long time.

"It is the last one I'm afraid. All three of us have been put into the rugby group."

"I've never played rugby, I don't even know the rules," Ben said. "It isn't that big in the States."

"It is a little like American football, just without the pads and helmets," Jason said.

"Lucky I packed my thermals then," Wally said.

"Yeah me too," Jason agreed.

"I didn't bring any thermals, they weren't on the kit list," Ben said.

"Nah, we're not really supposed to wear them, but the PE teachers don't mind. They get to wear big fluffy coats, so they got permission from the head to allow is to wear them in the really cold weather. We are only supposed to wear them for PE, but people also wear them in other lessons and constantly have to be told to go and take them off."

"You don't happen to have a spare do you?"

"Are you wearing your suit?" Wally asked in a low tone.

"Yeah, but won't people notice it changing?"

"Hey, don't worry I have a spare pair," Jason said. "You are about my size, so they should fit."

Jason passed over the thermals. They were a pair of black Under Armour compression shorts and a blue long sleeved Under Amour cold gear compression top.

"Um how do I get my suit off without it turning back into my suit?"

"Just imagine it staying as your uniform as you take it off and it will stay as it is," Jason said.

Ben did as he was told and pulled off his 'jumper'. It stayed the same and he shoved it into his school bag just incase. While he was in there, he pulled out his rugby top, shorts, socks, boots and gum shield. He pulled off the rest of his clothes and then put on the thermals Jason had lent him. On top of those he placed his rugby kit. Just as he was tying up the laces on his boots, the PE teachers walked in to take the registers

"Ok boys, sit down and we will take the register for each group," Mr Sanders, the head of PE called over the chatter.

The room began to fall quiet as people found a bench to sit on and listen up for their name.

"Right, Mr Jenkins will be taking the football group, Mr Jones the hockey group, Mr Doyle the gym group and I will be taking those of you doing rugby. Mr Jenkins if you could start the registers off then please."

Ten minutes later the registers were done and each group were dismissed from the changing room until only the rugby group were left.

"Ok lads, gather round the whiteboard over here for me," Mr Sanders said, as he wondered to the back of the room.

They all got up and sat on the benches surrounding the board.

"Ok, let's start with a little pop quiz about rugby. Who knows where rugby started?"

A couple of hands went up and Mr Sanders picked one.

"Didn't it start at Rugby School sir?" a boy called Timothy asked in reply.

"Correct, it started as a game at a Private school up in the Midlands in a town called Rugby. It is the only town in the world to give its name to a sport. Who is claimed to have started it?"

Jason raised his hand.

"Yes Jason?"

"William Webb Ellis," he said.

"Correct. That is why in the Six Nations it is called the Webb Elis cup. Right enough of the pop quiz. Some of you have played rugby in the last couple of years in PE, so we are going to start with a few tackling exercises and then maybe we can have a short game before lunch. Ok then let's go."

With that the group stood and walked out onto the school field.

"Right while I get the equipment out I want you to do three laps around both rugby pitches," Mr Sanders said.

Ben was really glad for the thermals Jason had given him because the biting wind freezing the rest of his exposed skin. He set off with the rest of the group around the two pitches, the four goal posts acting as the corners of the route.

The rest of the lesson sped by, with Ben learning lots of new stuff about the fact he came to the conclusion that rugby was now his new favourite sport.

Once they had finished PE, they got changed and then headed to lunch.

"So what are you planning to do tonight?" Jason asked Ben as they sat down in the canteen.

"I have nothing specific planned, why?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to come round and play on the x-box with me and Wally, mum said you can stay for dinner?"

"Yeah, that'll be cool. Thanks."

"No problem, we haven't had dinner since that night you got your powers, I think mum and dad were slightly afraid we might have scared your parents off."

"Nah, I doubt it, with what dad has done as Spiderman, not much scares him I don't think."

"Cool, you can come round at any time you want, we normally eat at around 7ish."

"Thanks, I'll get there before that, give us some time to play on the x-box first."

"Whenever you want, it is fine by me."

The rest of the day flew by and soon Jason and Wally were at the Kent house on the x-box playing through a selection of games.

There was a knock at the front door and they heard Jason's mum letting Ben in before he headed upstairs to Jason's room.

"Hi, glad you could make it," Jason said.

"Yeah, dad is having to work late at the office, so mum said it would be ok. So what are you playing?"

"We have not long started a game of FIFA, you can grab another controller and hop in if you want," Wally said.

Ben sat down and joined in the game.

A while later Jason's mobile rang. He picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Jason, it's me Dad. I need you and Wally to come and help with a problem."

"Can Ben help, he is here with us?"

"Sure, if you think he is ready. Meet us at Trafalgar Square, come suited and booted. Superman out."

With that the phone went dead. Jason turned to Wally and Ben.

"Fancy going on a mission with Superman?"

"Yeah, if you think I am ready?" Ben said.

"Definitely, he said you can join us."

"Where are we going?" Wally asked.

"Trafalgar Square."

"Is that where that really tall statue is?" Ben asked.

"Nelson's column, yeah," Wally clarified.

"He said come suited and booted, so let's change."

With that, the three lads began to change their clothes back to their suits. Once Jason was done, he ran downstairs to tell his mum what was happening and was soon back in his room.

"Ok, same formation as normal. When we get to the square, you should be able to use your webs Ben."

"Yeah it would be great to use them outside in the real world."

Soon they were in sight of the famous statue of Lord Nelson as they flew and ran past Buckingham Palace and down the Mall and over/under Marble Arch. As they got into the square, they saw the reason they were called. Right in front of the National Gallery, Superman was locked in a fight with the christmas tree.

"How can a christmas tree be doing that?" Ben asked as they hovered over the square.

"I don't know, but it looks as though it is winning. We better get in their fast. Take this and put it in your ear." Jason handed Ben a small device. "It will allow us to communicate with each other."

_"Lads I could do with you hurrying up, the tree is starting to get the edge over me,"_ Superman's voice came over the device Ben had just placed in his ear.

"Coming," Jason replied. He turned to Ben and said,"right I am going to release you, do you think you can use your webs and get over to the column?"

"Yeah no problem," Ben replied.

"Ok in three, two, one!" Jason released Ben, who promptly took aim and fired a web at Lord Nelson and it caught. He swung round and landed on top of Nelson's stone hat.

_"Ok, let's use attack formation three and aim for any weak areas that you can identify,"_ Jason said over the coms.

_"Roger that,"_ Wally replied.

"Ok," Ben replied.

With that, the three heroes set about their attack and rescue effort for Superman. They aimed at the weakest areas and ripped chunks out of he trunk and leaves. Wally ran to the power supply for the lights and yanked them out of their sockets, electrical sparks showering the pavement. A son as he had done that, the tree solidified and started falling down to the ground. Jason noticed this and flew down and just caught it before it could destroy the square around it. The tree lay still, whatever had posses it, clearly gone.

"Well done lads," Superman congratulated as he flew over to the three heroes. He was a mess. His suit was ripped in all sorts of places and twigs and broken glass strewn throughout his hair and the ripped sections of his suit.

"Thanks, that was great," Ben said.

"What do you think it was?" Jason asked.

"I don't know, but it seemed to stop once Wally disconnected the power to the lights. I better get the League's cleaning team in to sweep the area."

Superman flew off to inspect the tree and call in the League as the three lads observed the scene they had just saved. People stood around clapping and shouting support for the heroes. However, unknown to them, there stood a lone figure in the crowd who was not very pleased at the events. He watched as the rest of the people around him cheered these new heroes that had come to save Superman. His plan was ruined. Superman was supposed to be alone, so he could destroy him. A lot of money and time had been spent on getting that tree into place instead of the normal Trafalgar Square one. Now he was going to have to take these new heroes into his calculations and eliminate them as well.

The figure turned and slipped through the crowd and out of the square, descending into the nearest Underground station. They headed over to the Northern Line tunnels and passed unnoticed into a secret tunnel behind a grate. They walked down the dimly lit tunnel, further underground and away from the noise of the passing trains. At the end of the passageway, there was a dilapidated metal shelving unit which hid the entranceway into a more brightly lit room. The figure shut the secret door firmly behind them and went and sat at a desk positioned in the middle of the room. On it lay the plans for the attack which had just so spectacularly failed. With an angry roar, he threw the plans everywhere and then sat back down with a sigh.

"Why does it all have to fail!" He cried out loud. "These three new teenage heroes should be easy to eliminate."

The figure looked over at the clock and gave a small cry.

"I better get going or I will be late for rugby practice."

He grabbed a bag from on the floor and ran out of a different entrance up to the surface, emerging about half a mile from Trafalgar Square and off to the rugby pitches nearby.


	9. YouTube

"And now on BBC One the 6 o'clock news with Fiona Bruce and Riz Lateef."

_Headline Music_

"Today there was an attack of epic proportions as Trafalgar Square became the centre of commotion as the Superhero Superman and three new unidentified heroes battled the christmas tree which came alive. We will be analysing the need for these heroes and at what cost they are to our safety and pockets. Also tonight, the Prime Minister has been having talks with the French president over Britain's contribution to the latest debates over the EU and there was a resounding victory for England in their Rugby match against World Cup winners New Zealand, one of their worst defeats in decades."

_Switch to another studio_

"And on BBC London, we will be getting more reaction to the attack on the capital and also what we can do to keep ourselves out of harms way."

_Title music_

"Good evening and welcome to the BBC's news at six. Today Trafalgar Square was the scene of an attack by the annual christmas tree on the superhero, Superman. Eye witnesses say that as Superman flew over the area, the tree suddenly became animated and started causing commotion. It seemed as the fight went on, that Superman was losing, but the tide turned when three unknown, lycra clad teenagers turned up. These previously unseen heroes then went on to join the battle and help Superman overcome the tree. For more we go live now to Trafalgar Square and join our correspondent Jon Sopel. Jon."

"Yes Fiona many people were amazed and excited at the sighting of these three new heroes, all wearing distinctive costumes and each acting as though they had been doing this for a long time. One of them who we can see on the screen now seemed to be the leader, giving orders to the other two on how to attack and defeat the rogue tree. We can see that he is dressed in a virtually identical suit to that of Superman's. Experts are wondering if this is Superman's own son or a protégé. Another was dressed in a Spiderman like suit, but with noticeable differences between the two, again suggesting a son or assistant. The last of the three is wearing a yellow and red suit with a large lightning bolt displayed on his chest."

Lois turned the TV off. She turned to face her son and husband who both stood in the middle of the living room, their suits covered in grass stains and bits of twigs and leaves poking out of various places.

"All I can say is I am really glad you are both alright."

The two lycra clad men looked at each other, a look of relief passing over their faces.

"Now go and get changed, you both look a right mess. I have also got Jimmy coming round tonight from work to talk about a story I am working on and I think we would prefer he doesn't find out your true identities. I have also said he can stay for dinner, if that is ok with you?"

"Of course dear, what time is he coming?" Clark asked.

"Around 7 o'clock he said, but knowing Jimmy he can be a little early so you best hurry up."

With that, they hurried out to get changed before Lois and Clark's Superman obsessed coworker would arrive. Jason emerged from the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. He looked down at his suit and saw that its self cleaning process had completed and it was as good as new. However for Clark's low tech suit, a date with the washing machine.

"Jason can you hurry up, Jimmy will be here soon," Lois called.

"Won't be long mum," Jason shouted back.

"And put something nice and smart on, not your costume!"

"Yes mum."

Jason moved out of the bathroom, making sure he took his crumpled suit so Jimmy wouldn't find it. He headed to his room where he stuffed the suit into the 'bigger on the inside' box that the Doctor had left him. Opening his wardrobe, he pulled out a pair of smart trousers and a checkered blue shirt. He pulled on the trousers and shirt, leaving the top button of the shirt open and rolling the long sleeves up to just above his elbows. He grabbed a pair of black socks and pulled them on, before slipping his feet into a pair of slippers.

"Clark! Jason! are you both ready?" Lois called up from downstairs.

"Just coming," Jason shouted back.

"Almost ready dear," Clark followed.

The two men were soon downstairs, Clark helping Lois finish the dinner, whilst Jason sat in the study on the computer going through various YouTube videos.

As predicted by Lois, the doorbell went just before 7 o'clock. Jason went to open it and as expected Jimmy Olsen stood there. Jimmy was your typical west end Londoner and had lived there all his life. He worked at the office with Lois and Clark as their photographer, a hobby he had had from a young age. As usual, there was a camera around his neck.

"Hi Jason, how are you doing?" he asked enthusiastically.

"Yeah good thanks Jimmy, come on in."

Jason liked Jimmy because when he was younger, every time he came to the house, jimmy would bring Jason the latest Superman comic books and they would constantly talk about what it would be like to don a costume and go and fight crime with super powers. Now little did Jimmy know that what once was a fantasy for Jason, was now a reality.

"Jimmy good to see you," Lois said as she walked into the hallway. "Did you manage to go and get those photos you wanted at the palace?"

"Well, I had just got to Buckingham Palace to get the shots of the parade of the guard, when word came of the attack in Trafalgar Square. So I ran down the Mall and through Marble Arch and got the best view of the attack. I got some fantastic photos of those three new heroes. Did you see it on the news? I would give anything to talk to them, they were so cool."

Jason laughed internally at the fact Jimmy was standing closer to and talking to one of those new heroes than he ever thought he would.

"Yes, I am sure we will probably have a busy day in the office tomorrow trying to get interviews and stories about them," Lois replied. "Anyway, come through, dinner is almost ready."

They walk into the living room where Jimmy flopped down onto the sofa and Jason sat in one of the arm chairs. Lois walked back into the kitchen to give Clark a hand.

"Here you go Jason," Jimmy said reaching over, holding a comic book.

"Thanks Jimmy." It was the latest Superman comic. Jason loved the fact Jimmy always brought him one, but now he knew of his dad's powers and now his own, the thill and accuracy of the comics did slightly turn him off of them.

"So what do you think of those new heroes?"

"Yeah they look quite cool. It seems Superman has a son and so does Spiderman."

"Hmm, such a shame we haven't seen the original Spiderman for so long. He seems to have disappeared off the face of the planet."

"Yeah, I really wanted to meet him as a kid."

"I always thought Superman was the one you wanted to meet?"

"He is," Jason lied. He hated to lie to Jimmy, but it was necessary to keep the secret safe. "But I would quite like to meet Spiderman. I just love that he became a hero at my age and did so much to help people at that age, he was and is kind of an inspiration."

"Well spoken, I just wish your parents could have that attitude towards the heroes."

"I respect them for what they do Jimmy," Clark said as he walked into the room. " I just wish they would all be clever about how they help, some of them can be very messy and dangerous at times."

Jason could tell how his father found it difficult to maintain this part of his personality because although he did think that about some superheroes, he got on well with a lot of others, especially in his role at the Justice League.

"Clark good to see you, I didn't see you at work today, where were you?"

"I was out investigating a story, I can' treacly talk about it yet."

Jason of course knew that he was out on patrol until he got attacked by the tree.

"Dinner is ready!" Lois called.

"Excellent, smells fantastic," Jimmy said.

They went into the dinning room where Lois and Clark had laid out the food on the table.

"Ahh a classic British roast dinner. Roast beef, roast potatoes, carrots, broccoli, gravy and to top it off, Yorkshire Puddings. I love Yorkshire Puddings," Jimmy said, his mouth salivating. "It is good to see you Americans indulging in our classic food."

"When I first came to England when I was a teenager, we had a roast dinner as one of our first meals and I loved it," Lois said. "I have always loved English food, it is much better than some of the stuff we have back in the States."

They tucked in to the meal that had been prepared and had a conversation about each other's day, of course Jason and Clark leaving out the incident in central London.

When the main course and then dessert had been polished off, Clark and Jason cleared the table whilst Lois and Jimmy went to the study and had their work talk. After he had helped his dad, Jason went upstairs and flopped down on his bed. He picked up a book that he had on his bed side table and began to read. He had just finished reading the second chapter of the night when his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and saw that Wally was calling him. He answered the call.

"Hi Wally, how are you doing?"

_"Hey have you been on the internet in the last hour?"_

"No, mum has Jimmy round and we were having dinner, why?"

_"You better come round here, we need to talk in a more secure environment."_

"Ok, I'll go and ask dad and see if he will let me come over."

With that Jason jumped up out of his bed and raced downstairs to the living room where Clark was sat on the sofa watching tv.

"Dad, Wally wants to know if I could go round, he says it is quite important?"

"Yes you can go, but if there is any trouble, I want you to call me straight away."

"Of course I will." He put the phone back to his ear. "Dad said I can come, I will be right over."

_"Be quick, but don't use your powers, I think it will be dangerous if you do."_

With that Wally hung up and Jason ran to grab his coat. However, this was not his normal coat. Jason often kept one of his costumes in the form of a random piece of outdoor wear, so just in case, he always had it with him if he wasn't wearing as normal.

Within five minutes, he was standing outside Wally's house ringing the doorbell. The door opened and Wally stood there.

"Come in," he said. "Let's go to the bunker where we can talk in private."

Wally's house had been built on top of an old World War bunker which his dad had discovered when doing house renovations. Being a history fan, his dad had worked to refresh it and restore it back to his former glory. It was now the most private room in the house, buried about 3 metres below the ground and no communication technology in there, apart from a very weak wifi signal from the main house.

Wally had his laptop sitting on a desk that was in the middle of the room with a YouTube video loaded up on it.

"What do you want to show me?" Jason asked.

"Here watch this video," Wally pushed play on the screen.

A figure appeared on screen wearing a skin tight black top and a pair of high tech goggles covering most of his face.

"People of Great Britain you have seen today the arrival of three new 'heroes' who came to the aid of Superman. They have thwarted my attempt at getting rid of the man of steel. I now issue this video as a warning that if you get in my way again then I will destroy you as well. Watch out, I will not be defeated."

The figure had clearly used voice altering software and spoke in a deep, threatening tone.

"So what do you think?" Wally asked. "Do we take him seriously?"

"I think we have to, you saw what he had in Trafalgar Square, if he really did that, we could be in some serious trouble."

"Do you think we should tell your dad?"

"Well if it is taken at all seriously by the media and the police, it will likely be on the Ten o'clock news, or in tomorrow's papers and considering he is a journalist, there is a high chance he will find out. Especially considering he is mentioned in the threat."

"When are you going to tell him?"

"I think now is probably the best time."

Jason reached into his 'coat' pocket and pulled out his earpiece and placed it in his right ear. He pressed a small button on it and spoke "Superman" out loud.

_"Superman speaking,"_ Clark's voice said in Jason's ear.

"Dad, we need to talk about something, are you able to come to Wally's house?"

_"I will be right over"_

"We will leave the secret entrance to the bunker open, you can fly in through there," Jason said as he signalled to Wally to go and open it.

_"On my way now,"_ Clark replied.

Just as he had finished saying that, a lycra clad Clark stepped into the bunker, making Wally jump a little.

"Still can't get used to that," he said. Wally shut the secret entrance up and walked back over to the table as Clark chuckled slightly at his fright.

"What do you want to talk about," Clark asked.

Jason showed him the video they had just watched and as it finished, stood there waiting for a reaction.

"Well it is good to put a masked face to the person behind today's attack, but I don't like his threat to the three of you. Whatever he used to make that tree come to life was some serious technology and it needed all four of us to fend it off. I mean even me, pretty much the strongest person on the planet, was struggling against that thing."

"Humble much," Jason said.

"Cheeky," Clark replied. "But seriously we need to be careful, goodness knows what he might plan next. Are you confident he has no idea of your true identities?"

"No one knows about who we are except for you and mum, Wally's parents, Ben's parents and the Doctor, but he is hardly here anyway," Jason said.

"Do you recognise him at all?" Clark asked.

"There does seem something familiar about him, but I can't picture what it is," Wally replied.

"I will talk to the Justice League about looking into if they can get any information on this guy and see if he has been doing any other acts of vandalism and terror," Clark said. "I wouldn't worry about it now, as far as I am concerned, you can all still go out and help in your suits, but if you do and come into any trouble, you must get in contact with the Justice League on the secure line and not try and battle on on your own."

"We will go out as a small team as well, keep each other safe," Jason said.

"Yeah, we are all still fairly new to this any way, it would be good to work together," Wally added.

"That is a good idea," Clarke nodded with agreement. "Now I am going to go and speak to the JLA and see Batman on his patrol. Don't be long before going home Jason, it might be Saturday tomorrow, but you on't want a late night. Plus your mum might worry if you stay out to long and sees the video at all."

With that Clark moved back over to the secret entrance, his cape billowing around his body as he opened it, letting the wind in. In a split second he flew out leaving a faint blue trail that lasted but a second, in his wake. Wally shut the door once more and moved back over to Jason.

"What about Ben, we need to talk to him about it?" he asked Jason.

"We can talk to him in the morning, I doubt very much that he will be going out in hero form tonight," Jason replied.

Wally shut down the laptop and placed it under his arm.

"Right, well I suppose I should get back home or mum will probably start to worry as dad said," Jason said.

"What time tomorrow should we go and see Ben?"

"What about 11 o'clock?"

"Yeah that should be fine, gives me a nice lie in."

"Right see you then," Jason said as he walked towards the door.

"Yeah, take care walking home, make sure no one is following you suspiciously," Wally added in concern.

With that, Wally accompanied Jason to the front door and they both finalised their good byes before Jason headed down the drive and out to the main path. Walking down it, he looked up to the sky and marbled at the beauty of the stars and thought of how his dad flew above the earth every day looking down at the activity below. With that thought, he decided he was going to have a little fly around himself before he headed home. He saw a row of bushes and scooted over to them and hid behind their protective cover.

He thought carefully in his head and his coat began to become like a liquid as it moved underneath his clothing, forming his suit. He began to remove his smart clothes and fold them neatly up, revealing the now formed suit below. He tucked his clothes under his arm as he leapt into the air and flew around the estate.

It was beautiful up in the sky as he looked around at the city that was starting to sleep. The lights from the houses and other buildings looking like the stars that lit the sky. The wind was quite cold up at this height, so Jason was glad for the thermal properties in his suit. He hovered for a moment over the street where his house was and looked at the city drifted more into darkness.

"Great isn't it?" a voice said behind him.

Jason turned and saw Clark hovering there. He must have lost track of time.

"I often come up here and just look over the city and how beautiful it is. It is such a nice change to Metropolis, the amazing old and new architecture blending together."

"I just couldn't resist it," Jason said.

"Well you better tear yourself away from it then, we need to be heading back down. Jimmy has gone home and your mum rang me wondering where we both were."

With that, father and son headed down towards the garden of their house, where they could slip in without any of the neighbours seeing.

"Thank goodness you are home," Lois said as they came face to face with her. "I was beginning to worry that something might have happened again."

"Don't worry dear, Jason just got caught up with the view over the city. I caught him in a little day dream," Clarke teased as he wrapped his arm around his son.

Lois gave a little chuckle.

"Right, I will go and get changed out of this thing and then Mrs Kent, I am all yours," Clark said.

"Don't bother Mr Kent I quite like it."

"Get a room the pair of you," Jason said in embarrassed disgust.

"Ooh, I think we might be embarrassing someone," Lois said.

"Come on them, let's go upstairs," Clark said.

With that, the two adults walked out of the room leaving Jason standing in the kitchen alone. He went over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of orange juice out. Opening it, he took a long drink from it, before picking up the clothes he had put on the side and taking it all up to his room. He dumped the clothes next to his wardrobe and went to sit down at his desk.

Opening up his laptop, he logged on and pulled up his internet browser. He searched for the YouTube video and re watched it several times. Wally was right, there was something familiar about the figure, but even he could not work it out. He sat back in his chair and drank the last of the juice. He looked down at the suit he was wearing and thought about the responsibility and trust that came with wearing the symbol that sat on his chest. He felt that he was ready to join in with his dad's exploits and help people who needed him and counted on the support.

With that thought lingering in his head, Jason got up, stripped his suit off and pulled on his PJs. He folded his suit neatly and placed it into the wardrobe. He crawled in to bed and pulled the duvet over him. He reached over and switched the lights off. He lay back onto his pillow and closed his eyes. As he drifted off to sleep, the days events replayed in his mind. They were going to have to be wary of what was to come and how they were going to work together to prevent anything serious from happening. With that last thought, he left the land of awake and entered the land of nod.

* * *

At Wally's house he to was lying in bed, but had not yet gotten to sleep. The day's events were to playing out in his mind, but unlike Jason, he was worrying a little more about the masked figure in the video. There was definitely something about him that Wally had recognised, but whatever it was, he couldn't put his finger upon it. He replayed the image in his head, over and over. He re examined every inch of the image. The thing that seemed most familiar to him was his physique. Playing rugby and being around boys who wear skin tight thermal layers and rugby tops gets you used to seeing various torsos up close, especially in such a contact sport. That chest and black top seemed so like one he had seen before, but again he struggled to identify it. Maybe he was just being paranoid. Wow, thinking about other boys chests was something he probably shouldn't be doing, especially when he was trying to woo a girl at school.

Rachel Jenkins was by far the prettiest girl in the school in Wally's opinion. They had met when she had accidentally walked into him and dropped all her papers over his feet. They had been going out now for just over a month and everyone at school described them as the perfect couple. She loved to watch him as he played in the school rugby matches and he loved to sit and watch films with her. The one thing Wally hated about their relationship was that he couldn't tell her about his alternate life. He hated lying and keeping secrets from her, but he knew it was necessary for the very reason of keeping himself and the people around him safe. After the day's happenings, he knew more than ever that protecting those around him from his other life was a high priority.

With that thought in his head, he turned off the light and lay down onto his bed. He turned on his right side and shut his eyes. He had a strange feeling that from now on, things were going to be very different and never the same again. For good or bad, he hoped his loved ones won't be hurt.


	10. Nightwing

It was Monday morning and the three teenage heroes were walking through their school gate ready for a new day of learning. As said, on the Saturday, Jason and Wally had gone round to Ben's house and explained the situation in regards to the threat made against their alter egos. He had been rather cool about it, clearly ready to take on the mantel of a hero, just like his father did.

The three lads headed in as the school bell rang and moved towards the changing rooms for PE. They went straight in and got their kit on and sat down waiting for the teachers to come in. Mr Sanders walked in and called for hush.

"Gentlemen I have an announcement. We are in need for a rugby team to play in a match against St Oswalds on Thursday next week. Any one wanting to join the team will need to attend a session next Monday for selection. Right, now that is done, time for the registers."

The rest of the teachers then filed in and the lesson began. Mr Sanders dismissed each group off to their various locations. His group then moved out into the bitterly cold air, to the field.

"So are either of you going to go to that session?" Wally asked Ben and Jason.

"Yeah, I have always wanted to play on the school team and now is a good time to go for it. What about you Ben?" Jason passed on the question.

"I am pretty new to the sport, but I could give it a go."

"Hey Alex!" Wally called over to another boy in their group.

He turned around and waited for the group to catch up. He was a well built lad, with dark brown hair and a faint tan left over from the summer. His bright green eyes blinking in the cold air. He wore the typical school PE kit of a maroon polo shirt, black shorts and long maroon rugby socks. I addition to this, he wore a black long sleeved thermal top.

"Hey Wally, how are you doing?" Alex asked.

"Are you going to the session on Monday?"

"Of course I am, you couldn't keep me away from it."

Alex Manning was probably the schools biggest rugby fans. He regularly attended school rugby matches and also he played for the local team as well. He was a popular figure at the school, very kind and willing to help any of the younger students when they needed it.

"Are you coming Ben?" Alex asked.

"Yeah I think so," Ben replied.

"Well if you want me to talk through a few techniques after school someday this week, don't hesitate to ask."

"Yeah, that'll be cool. Thanks."

"How about Wednesday at my house?"

"I will be there."

"Right lads," Mr Sanders interrupted. "As it is so cold today and you need warming up, four laps around the rugby pitches."

They set off and readied themselves for the next 45 minutes of the freezing cold lesson.

Later on, they trooped back inside the school and embraced the warmth that spread through their frozen bodies, hearing them up and brining feeling back to all parts of their bodies. Just before they reached the changing rooms, Mrs Richards the head appeared.

"Jason Kent, when you have gotten changed, I need to see you in my office please."

"Yes Miss," Jason replied. "Am I in trouble?"

"No, no, nothing of the sort. Their is a visitor who would like to have a word with you. Be as quick as possible please."

With that, she walked off in the direction of her office.

"What do you think that is about? Wally asked.

"I don't know, I hope it is nothing bad," Jason replied.

Mr Sanders unlocked the changing room door and they hurried in to get changed back into warm school uniform. Jason went and told Mr Sanders Mrs Richards wanted to see him in his office and he was excused to go and find out what was wanted of him.

He reached her door and knocked twice upon it. The door opened and Mrs Richards beckoned him in.

"Jason I would like you to meet Mr Grayson, he has come to ask you a few questions."

The two shook hands.

"Mr Richards, may we be left in private, these are going to be confidential questions and answers?" Mr Grayson asked.

Jason noticed he spoke with an American accent.

"Certainly, I will be in the school office if you should need me," Mrs Richards said, as she left the office, closing the door behind her.

"Ok, well let's start by introducing myself properly. My name is Richard Grayson, my friends call me Dick and I am a friend of your fathers. You may know me better as Nightwing."

"Wow, I never thought I would meet you. What are you doing here?"

"Your father asked Batman to investigate the recent video threat made against you, your dad and your friends. So far, we have come across little of any use. The YouTube channel was created on an untraceable IP and in a clearly fake profile. The only thing we got from the video was that he is clearly younger than his fake voice software is trying to make him seem. We think he may be around your age."

"My age, do you think I may know him?"

"We're not sure. From his language and body movement, it suggests that he has no idea who you are behind your mask, but we can't be to careful. You are to report any suspicious activity to the league. Here take this."

He handed Jason a small case, about the size of his palm. Jason opened it and saw there were four objects inside. Three small devices which looked like ear receivers. The other object was cylindrical in shape and very unassuming. He pulled it out and took a closer look.

"What is this?" he asked.

"Ah this is a very special device. We were sent the specifications from an unknown source telling us to pass the completed design onto you. Batman has put it through extensive testing and believes it is safe. You wouldn't believe how many we had to build to make sure it was. This is now the only one in existence. The instructions told us that we had to destroy the original designs. Obviously Batman tried to take a scan, but it wouldn't copy. No matter what we tried, we just could not copy any of the design."

"But what actually does it do?"

"It is a sophisticated tracking beacon. You get close to your adversary and then you put the flat tip against their body somewhere and then push. It then fires a small microchip into their skin. Then this device will actually allow you to 'lose' the person and then it will teleport you to them, well within 200 metres of them."

"Cool," Jason said.

"Indeed, but it only works once and once only. You need to be certain that when you want to use it is the right time. Make one slip up and you will not be able to try again."

"Of course."

"Anyway, I need to be going, Batman is expecting me back to help him patrol tonight. By the way, I was watching you out on the files earlier and you are really good at rugby. I believe there is a school match going on next week. Are you going to play?"

"Hopefully. Wally, Ben and myself are all going to try and play. You like rugby?"

"Yeah, Batman bought me tickets to the Rugby World Cup a few years ago and it was fantastic, so much more fun than what we play over in the US. Right, I could talk rugby all day, but I do need to go. Good luck, you will find a slip of paper in the bottom of that case explaining more, but it is too risky to speak out loud. I did sweep for bugs, but you can never be to careful."

As they both rose, the door opened and Mrs Richards walked in.

"Oh good, I was about to ask if you were finished. Have you got everything you needed Mr Grayson?"

"Yes thank you Mrs Richards, Jason has been most helpful. Such a model student. You run a fantastic school here. I shall return to the Department for Education with glowing reports."

"You are to kind, thank you so much for coming. Jason would you mind taking Mr Grayson to Reception before you head back to class. I have written a note for you to give to your teacher to explain why you are late."

With that they walked out of the office and down the corridor to the front of the school. Just as they reached the Reception doors, Dick turned and faced Jason.

"Remember, use the resources given to you to the best of their ability. Your friends are there for you to help you, not to hinder. You may think that what I am saying doesn't apply to you, but trust me, it is sound advice and will prove useful one day."

"Thanks, I will take that on board. You have been a great help. Enjoy your trip back to the States."

"We will meet again soon I am pretty sure of it."

Dick turned and headed out of the school and down the path to the road. He moved out of Jason's view and walked towards a broken red telephone box. He stepped inside and pulled the door shut. Turning to the telephone, he lifted the handset and typed a number into the keypad. He waited a few seconds and then replaced the phone. A bright blue light surround him and suddenly the box was empty.

Thousands of miles away another bright blue light appeared and Dick stepped out of it. A mechanised female voice spoke.

_"Recognised, Nightwing B Zero One."_

Dick looked around at the inside of Mt Justice.

"Dick, you're back!" Tim Drake cried as he spotted his predecessor walk into the cave. "How did your mission go?"

"It went well, I think we have nothing to worry about."

"When will we get to meet them?"

"When we are told that everything has Ben completed."

"When will that be?"

"When the Doctor says."

"Who is he and why are we doing what he says?"

"He is a man who has seen the universe change through great and terrible actions. He has lived for over 900 years and he has worked with Batman on a couple of occasions doing some incredible work."

"You have met him?"

"Only the once, but he left such an impression on me, that I became much more focused and saw this more like Batman, than a game. What we do is serious and dangerous. We need to show to the world that we can be trusted and do our job well."

"But what does he want with the new heroes?"

"There are events in history that are fixed in time. They must always happen regardless of what people think. The Doctor comes from a planet where they protect time and keep it on course to happen as it should. These three new heroes are a fixed event. What they do must and will happen."

"Can we help them?"

"Not directly. If we were unaware of the situation of them being a fixed point, we could help them as much as we like. However, because of our knowledge, we must be careful and clever in the way we help."

At that moment, the two teenager's conversation was interrupted by the cave's holographic screen coming to life and showing Batman on it.

_"Nightwing, I trust your mission was successful?"_

"It was."

_"Good. I need you and Robin to suit up and rendezvous with Green Lantern at the Gotham docks. He needs help in stopping a drugs exchange. Batman out." _

The two heroes jumped into action and were soon on their way to aid the Green Lantern.


	11. Get out of the house

"Hey Ben, come in," Alex greeted as he opened the front door to reveal Ben standing there shivering.

In the last couple of days since Alex invited Ben over to help train him for the rugby session. The weather had worsened and forecasters were saying it was going to be the coldest winter in over 35 years.

"Hi, it is really cold out here," he said as he moved into the house, shedding his coat, jumper and shoes, as the warmth of Alex's house washed over him.

The door shut and the winter wonderland disappeared from view.

"Do you want a drink, something hot perhaps?" Alex offered.

"Do you have tea?"

"Of course, you are in the home of a British person. Milk and sugar?"

"Just milk please, not to weak."

"Sure, come through."

The two lads walked through into the kitchen and stood as Alex boiled water and put the tea bags in the mugs. A couple of minutes later, they each held a steaming mug in their hands, using them to add a little more warmth into their bodies.

"So how are you enjoying the UK?"

"It is not that much different from New York, just the language differences and food to get used to."

"Do you like the food here? I have heard that Americans are not a fan of our cuisine."

"No it is great, you actually have fresh food over here compared to the processed stuff we have back home."

"Yeah I remember going over to Chicago a few years ago and the portion size was huge. I couldn't eat it all."

"When did you go there," Ben asked inquisitively.

Alex thought for a moment and then replied saying, "it was in about two thousand and eight. Dad had to go over for some business work and took me and mum with him to have a holiday."

"Were you there when Chicago was attacked by that maniac and several people died from his crazy machines he let loose?"

"I was there around that time yeah. Mum kept me indoors and we left the state later that day. We left dad there, as he was trapped at his office. That was the last I saw of him. He died in the last wave of the attack."

"I am so sorry," Ben said.

"Its ok, I am used to it all by now. Anyway," Alex said suddenly as he began to change the subject. "shall we get on with our session?"

"You're the boss, I will follow your lead."

"Have you brought any kit?"

"Yeah, in my bag. It is just the school kit and a pair of thermals."

"You may want to put a jumper or coat on, thermals will help but it is so cold you may want something else."

"Where do you want me to get changed?"

"Go up stairs and the bathroom is the first door that you come to."

"Thanks."

A few minutes later the two lads stood out in Alex's back garden ready to begin their training.

"Ok, I guess that rugby is fairly similar to what we would call american football, but with some obvious differences," Alex explained. "In your football there are a lot of pads and helmets, whereas in rugby there is limited protection. Some people wear a padded vest and or a padded hat, but everyone else just has a gum shield."

"Does it involve as much contact?"

"Depending how seriously you take it, yes it can get pretty violent. You need to look at pictures of some of the professional players who have ruined their ears in the scrums and the blood that appears during matches."

"Are you trying to put me off? It isn't going to."

"Just making sure you know what you are letting yourself in for. If you are ready then, we shall begin."

Over the next couple of hours Alex taught Ben some of the best techniques and moves that he knew himself, getting him ready for team selection on Monday. When they had finished, they went back into the house, faces red because of the chilly windy. In the kitchen, Alex's mum had arrived home and was just putting the kettle on.

"Hello dear, who is your friend."

"Hey mum, this is Ben. He has recently moved to the UK from America and I was helping to teach him some rugby skills."

"Nice to meet you Ben, you can call me Jane. Would you like a cup of tea?" Alex's mum asked.

"Yes please."

"Please sit down and help yourself to a biscuit or two," Jane said as she turned back to the kettle and began making the tea.

They began to chat about their days and what each other had been up too. Soon however, it was time for Ben to leave and head off back home.

"Thank you very much for the tea and the help, I've just got to remember it for Monday."

"I am sure you will do fine," Alex said confidently.

"You are welcome to come round anytime you would like Alex to help you," Jane said.

"Thanks, I will remember to do that."

Ben then left the house and headed back home.

"He seemed nice," Jane said to her son.

"Yeah, and he is a fantastic rugby player. It is amazing he has never played it before."

* * *

A few streets away, Wally West sat in his bedroom on his bed, reading a book that his mother had bought him from the bookshop she worked in. Suddenly a shouting match erupted below him. His parents were arguing again. Recently their arguments had been increasing in frequency, volume and pettiness. He wondered what it was this time. The voices were getting nearer and clearer.

"I WILL NOT HAVE A FREAK LIKE THAT LIVING IN MY HOUSE!" Wally's dad was shouting.

"HE IS YOUR SON, YOU SHOULD LOVE HIM NO MATTER WHAT!" his mother counter argued.

The door to Wally's room burst open and his dad stormed in, his face as red as a beetroot and he was holding one of Wally's costumes.

"WHAT IS THIS AND WHY IS IT IN MY HOUSE?" he shouted at Wally.

"I was going to tell you," Wally meekly spoke as he slowly replaced the bookmark in his book and placed it down on his bedside table. "It is my superhero suit. I am a superhero."

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

"Alan, you can't be serious," Wally's mum gasped in shock at her husbands command.

"Dad?" Wally said open mouthed.

"I am not your dad," Alan said more quietly and in a sinister manner.

"You have 30 minutes to collect together your things and then get out of my house. If you are still here at the end of that time, I am going to kill you."

With that, Alan left the room and his wife and son in shock at his order.

"Wally I am so sorry," his mum burst into tears, running over to her son and wrapping her arms around him.

"Its alright mum, don't worry."

Wally had been dreading this day. His dad had never liked superheroes and had publicly spoken out against them. To how know that one had been living in his house over the last few months clearly took him over the edge.

Wally glanced over at the suit, which before he had left, his father had thrown down on the floor. It had given him so much happiness and freedom, but now it was ripping him away from his family and home.

"Where are you going to go?" his mother asked him.

"I'll phone Jason and see if I can crash at his place for a while."

"You better hurry up and get your things together, your dad will be back soon and he means what he said."

"Don't worry, he won't be able to hurt me physically. You must come with me."

"No I can't, I need to stay with him and try and reason with his good side."

"You are a braver person than me mum, you are my hero."

They hugged again, this time tighter, as though neither was going to let go, but inevitably they both knew, that was exactly what they were going to have to do.

Wally let go and began to gather his stuff together. He brought out a suitcase from under his bed and filled it with as may clothes as he could, as well as his suits, school stuff and a few other mementoes. His laptop was put in its bag and his iPad also with it. The last thing he place in his case was the book that he was reading before his father burst in.

He gathered his bags in his hands and gave his mum a final hug and kiss and then jumped out of the window, landing softly on his feet. Giving one final look up to his mum who now stood at the window, Wally turned and ran to Jason's house.

Within seconds he stood on the Kent's doorstep and rung the bell. The door opened and Clark stood there facing him.

"Wally, are you alright?" he asked looking at the bags he was carrying and his tear soaked face.

"Is it ok for me to stay here for a while, dad has kicked me out of the house?"

"Sure, come in," Clark moved to the side, letting the teenage hero enter, helping him with his stuff. "Just dump it here in the hall and come through to the kitchen, I'll make you a nice mug of hot chocolate."

"Thanks," Wally said wiping a tear from his eye as he followed Clark to the kitchen.

"What happened for your dad to kick you out?"

Wally recounted the painful events of the last hour and Clark listened in horror at the callous attitude of Alan West.

When Wally had finished, the two stood there in silence, the only noise being the microwave as it heated the milk up for the hot chocolate. The microwave finished, it's beeping letting them know of this fact. That was when Clark spoke.

"Wally I know that you and Jason are the best of friends and being the heroes that you now are, I want you to stay for as long as you want. Don't worry about the costs involved, we have plenty of money in the bank. With Lois being an award winning journalist, she does get paid a handsome wage. And as you know we do have a spar bedroom which you can have. I am sure Jason will be overjoyed at you living with us."

"Where is Jason at the minute?" Wally asked.

"He went to go and help Lois at work as I was unable to do so. I was preoccupied with a volcano erupting in Iceland. I had not long returned when you arrived."

As Clark said that, Wally could smell the clear odour of burning and sulphur emanating from the man of steel.

Clark finished stirring the chocolate powder into the milk and handed the mug over to Wally.

"Thanks."

Wally lifted the mugs to his lips and sipped at the hot beverage. As the liquid entered his mouth and fell down his gullet, a warm and calming feeling washed over him, as though his worries and anger were being taken from him and only happy and peaceful thoughts remained.

"Better?" Clark asked.

"Better," Wally replied.

The sound of the front door opening came to their ears and the voices of Lois and Jason came after, alerting them to their arrival.

"We're home!" Lois called out. "What are these bags doing in the hallway?" she asked as she walked into the kitchen. "Oh hello Wally, how are you doing?"

"Um dear, Wally has come to stay with us for a while. He is the victim in a little bit of trouble at home."

"Oh Wally, what has happened?" Lois asked just as Jason walked into the kitchen.

Wally relayed the tale once more, leaving Clark still shocked and angry, but also Lois and Jason open mouthed and devastated.

"Mate, that is horrible," Jason said as he came up behind Wally and put his hand on Wally's shoulder.

"I knew the day was going to come at some point, but I just didn't expect it to go that way."

"Well I am sure Clark has already said this, but you are most welcome to stay with us," Lois reaffirmed.

"Thank you, you are most kind."

There was a knock on the door that interrupted their conversation. Lois went to see who it was. Moments later, she walked back into the kitchen, Wally's mum following her.

"Mum," Wally said, rushing over to her.

They embraced once more.

"What are you doing here?"

"I thought you might want some more things. Your dad went off to the pub, so I used the opportunity to gather some more things together. I also wanted to bring you some money to help tie you over."

"Thank you so much."

"I must go, your dad said he wasn't going to be long and if he catches me, I will be in serious trouble."

"You must stay here as well," Lois said.

"No, I need to stay with him, try and convince him not to be scared of Wally."

"Good luck," Clark said. "Sounds like you are going to have your work cut out.

With that, Wally's mum left the house and returned back home. She had left the things she had brought in the Kent's hallway.

"Well I suppose we need to get the spare room ready for you," Lois said.

However just as she finished, there was a large gust of wind rushing through the kitchen. A moment later, another one followed. Wally noticed Clark's position change ever so slightly.

"All done," Clark said.

"Thank you honey."

"Well I suppose you lads need to be getting off to bed, it is school tomorrow," Clark said.

"Thank you again for letting me stay here," Wally said to Lois and Clark.

"Wally, we are always happy to have you round. Don't worry about anything."

With that, the two boys over towards the stairs and climbed them up to the bedrooms.

"Hey it is going to be fun living in the same house now, we can train more often," Jason said.

"Yeah, it will be cool."

"Night, see you in the morning."

"Night."

They went to their own rooms. Wally looked around at his new home. Clark had cleaned it all and made the bed. All his possessions had been put away in their proper place. He moved over to the wardrobe and pulled out his pyjamas. He changed in to them, putting his clothes into a laundry basket. He crawled I to bed and turned the lights off. He lay back and thought about the evenings events. He felt safe here in the Kent's house, away from his violent father. It was his mother that he worried about. Would she be ok? Would he hurt her?

As those questions passed through his mind, he began to slip into a deep sleep, away from his worries and in to the land of nod.


	12. Rugby Session

"Right lads, lets get out to the pitch and see which of you are going to make up the team for Thursday's match," Mr Sanders said enthusiastically to the group of boys who had gathered for the team trials.

"Good luck Ben," Alex said coming up behind him. "Just remember what I told you and you should be fine."

"Thanks, I have been rerunning everything through my head again and again, hoping that I can remember it all."

"You will be fine."

When they had reached the field, Mr Sanders and the rest of the PE teachers put the boys through their paces with various exercises and group activities.

About an hour later, the session ended and the teachers went to deliberate who they wanted on the team. 15 places were up for the main team and 5 reserves. Soon, the teachers returned and stood waiting for the boys to be quiet.

"Well done to you all, but we have made our decision," Mr Sanders said. "Mr Jenkins will now read out the list of names."

Mr Jenkins moved forward and lifted a sheet of paper up.

"We will assign you positions on the day of the natch," he began. "So the main boys are; Stephen Smith, James Gillan, Rory Darvill, Matthew Bussell, Daniel Lewis, Ian McGregor, Alex Manning, Jason Kent, Wally West, George Tennant, David Starkey, Finlay Thomas, Max Goodman, Kevin Forsyth and Ben Parker."

As soon as Ben's name was read out, elation filled him and the excitement threatened to burst out of him.

"And our five reserves are," Mr Jenkins continued. "Paul Edwards, Owen Ford, Chris Flood, George Farrell and Michael Coulson."

"Congratulations to those of you who have got through to the team, commiserations to those who haven't, maybe you will get through next time," Mr Sanders moved forward once more. "Right, time to go home. And be careful, I don't want any injuries before the game on Thursday. I want you here promptly at 4:00pm, ready and changed. The game begins at 4:15. Dismissed."

With that, everyone dispersed and headed off home to rest and get ready for the game.

"Hey well done Ben, we knew you'd get on the team," Jason and Wally appeared behind him.

"Well if Alex hadn't of helped me, I think I may have been with those who didn't succeed."

"I think without my help, you still would have done well," Alex interrupted as he walked over.

"Thanks again anyway."

"My pleasure, just don't forget everything before the game on Thursday."

"I won't, unless I get amnesia."

"You had better not. Any way I have to go, see you guys tomorrow," Alex departed.

"Bye!" the other three chorused.

"Well I suppose I had also better be going," Ben reluctantly said.

"Yeah we better be off as well, Mum wants me and Wally to help her shift some stuff out of the loft for an assignment she is working on at work."

They parted ways and set off back to their abodes.

Ben walked down his road and up his drive to the front door, the click clacking of the studs in his boots sounding out every step he made. Through the door he could here several voices speaking in varying tones, some angry, some happy and some unsure. He pulled out his key and let himself into the house.

"Oh Ben, you are home," Mary-Jane said as she bumped into her son as she walked out of the living room.

"What is going on? Who are all those people?"

"Your father has some visitors trying to coax him out of retirement."

"What they want him to be Spiderman again?"

"Yes and he isn't happy about it."

"Let me go and speak to him."

"I doubt you would be able to change his mind, four of them haven't."

Ben dropped his bags by the bottom of the stairs and pulled off his rugby boots, setting them down on the doormat. He moved into the living room and came face to face with his father, Bruce Wayne (the famous business man), Tony Stark (another famous business man), Clark Kent (Jason's dad and rival journalist) and Steve Rogers (the legendary Captain America).

"Ben, how are you doing? How did the rugby session go?"

"Fine on both questions. I understand these men are trying to get you to go back to being Spiderman?"

"Yes they are and they are about to leave, because as I have made it clear to them, I am not interested and as far as I am concerned, my Spiderman is dead."

There was a slight intake of breath at the last bit.

"But dad, I think you should. You always enjoyed flying through the streets and helping other people. Remember what Uncle Ben said, 'With great power, comes great responsibility.' They obviously need you, they wouldn't be asking if they didn't."

There was silence as the men in the room digested what the teenage had just said.

"Young man, you clearly know what you are saying and how to say it with great conviction," Steve Rogers said.

"Ben, I can see that you will keep Jason in line," Clark said.

"You are just like me, say it clear and say it loud," Tony Stark agreed with the other's sentiments.

"You will make a great team member when you are older," Bruce Wayne said.

Peter Parker looked around the room at each of the men as they praised his son for his words and thought carefully again at the proposal for him to join the Justice League. He came to a decision.

"Ok I'm in, but there are conditions."

"Excellent," Tony Stark said leaning forward.

"I will leave you to it," Ben said, moving out of the room, leaving the men to discuss these conditions. He bumped into his mother again who had been listening at the door.

"Well I have to hand it to you Ben, you succeeded where four great men failed. You are my hero."

She hugged her son and they embraced for a moment.

"Right, you need to go and have a shower. When you are out, dinner should be ready. Oh and how did the session go? You never really answered your father properly."

"Oh yeah, I got on the team," he said enthusiastically.

"Well done, I am so proud of you," Mary-Jane said, hugging her son once more. "Yes, you really need to go and have a shower," she again mentioned, pulling away from her muddy, sweaty son.

Ben complied and soon emerged from his bedroom, clean and in fresh clothes. He moved downstairs and found that the visitors had left, Peter with them. Dinner was, as promised, on the table ready for him to guzzle down. Tonight it was home made lasagna and garlic bread.

"This looks fantastic," his stomach grumbled as he sat.

"I knew you would love it."

"Of course."

As they ate, they spoke about their days and what each of them had been up to.

* * *

Across town, back at the Kent household, Jason and Wally were shifting boxes out of the loft for Lois. They had changed out of their kit and were fresh and in clean clothes.

"Have you got all the books that you need?" Jason called down the ladder.

"There is just one missing. I think it has a blue label on it and the code may be along the lines of 001A-4."

"Ah, I think I have it," Jason called back.

He reached over and passed it down the ladder, into Wally's waiting hands. A puff of dust blew into Wally's face, causing him to cough and almost drop the box.

"Oh, are you ok?" asked Lois as she steadied the box for him.

"Fine thanks, the dust just got up my nose."

"This box is one of the older ones, it has been gathering the dust for a while."

"What do you need from all of these anyway?" Jason asked as he descended the ladder and came to a rest on the landing.

"Well after the attack on the four of you in Trafalgar Square, I remembered something similar happened many years ago, but with different objects. I want to go through my old case files and articles to see if I can pull out any information."

"You are very organised Mrs Kent," Wally said impressed at the system she had in place.

"Well it always pays to be organised, as you never know when you may need to go back and look in the archive! as demonstrated now."

"Where do you need them to go now?" Jason asked.

"In the study please. I want to scan any useful documents I find. Your dad thinks it may be worth sending them over to Batman."

"Ok then, to the study it is."

Jason and Wally lifted a couple of boxes each, easy for two people with super human strength, incredibly difficult for those who don't. The boxes must have weighed at least thirty kilograms each. They carried them down the stairs and carefully placed them on the study floor, next to the desk. Just as they finished, the cooker alarm sounded, alerting them to the fact that dinner was ready.

"Cottage Pie?" Lois asked.

"One of my favourites," Jason said, his mouth starting to water.

"Set the table then, while I dish it out," Lois asked the two lads.

Soon they were eating the delicious, juicy, tender pie that Lois had prepared.

"Where is dad tonight?" Jason asked.

"He said he had to go and have a meeting with someone. Important league business apparently."

"He should be here, he is missing this gorgeous meal."

They continued their meal and when finished, cleared up and separated to go and relax. Lois went to the study to sit and read through some of her old files, whilst Jason and Wally went and played on the X-box.

"So, what did you think of Ben's playing today?" Wally asked Jason.

"Whatever Alex showed him clearly worked, he was great. Definitely an asset to the team."

Wally nodded in agreement.

"I think St Oswalds better watch out on Thursday, we have three superheroes, they don't."

"Yes, but we aren't going to use our powers," Jason reminded Wally

"Of course not, I was just joking," he said meekly, starting to smile.

"Good, because dad would kill me if I used them to get an unfair advantage in a sports match."

"Don't worry, I will make sure that I hold back on using my powers. Now let's get back to the game."

They continued playing until Lois came in and reminded them to get to bed. The house was soon silent, no body waking as Clark returned in the early morning. He slipped into the house and flew upstairs or his and Lois' bedroom. He pulled his cape off and folded it over the back of a chair. To tired to change, he slipped into bed with the rest of his suit on and pulled the covers over him. Lois' arm instinctively moved and lay across her husband's torso. Clark leant over and gave her a kiss, before he himself gave way to his body' wish to sleep and entered the land of nod.


	13. The Match

The bitter wind blew fiercely over the city, bringing with it fresh snow and ice. The ground was rock hard, meaning it was impossible for studs in boots to get the grip in the dirt they needed. The school day had started and the students of Rainsbrook Academy sat in their classrooms, glad of the warmth and windbreaks they provided. Teacher's stood at the front of their classrooms, instructing the various classes of pupils in their subjects.

Jason Kent, Wally West, Ben Parker and Alex Manning sat in their history class, all four of them staring out of the window at the school field. Tonight was the first of the Westminster Borough School Rugby Tournament matches, between them and St Oswalds. However, the bad weather was a potential threat to the game. The sound of their teacher going on about the origins of the Cold War was blurred out as they each hoped that when the time came to step onto the pitch, they wouldn't freeze to death. All this talk about the Cold War also wasn't helping. Warm thoughts were needed instead.

The school bell rang dismissing them for the day, but also sounding the end of the warmth for those involved in the match. The four boys headed to the changing rooms where they would get into the school kit and wait for the students of St Oswalds to arrive.

The PE Department had, over the summer, invested in a set of new kits for the various sports that they competed in. The rugby kit consisted of a form fitting shirt with a blue background colour and a gold stripe heading diagonally down from the right shoulder (starting wide) and curving slightly down to the left hip (getting thinner). The shorts were blue and the long rugby socks where blue and yellow horizontal stripes. The school had also fortunately managed to get a sponsorship deal with Under Armour, who had supplied them with the kit and various thermal layers. The team were today supplied with yellow compression shorts and also a long sleeved yellow Cold Gear base layer. Some chose to brave the cold, but the four lads chose to wear the layers.

Soon the team from St Oswalds arrived and the game could get underway. Mr Sanders had sent notes to the 20 boys during the day in class to inform them of their playing positions. They jogged out to the school field, the cold air slamming into them as they left the safety of the school buildings.

Jason knew that using his powers in front of everyone was dangerous, but he carefully blew a stream of hot air over his body, careful not to make it to hot, that a large cloud of vapour would surround him.

After warming up, the two teams took their positions and the game began. Rainsbrook started with the ball and after a few minutes, managed to score the first try of the game. Wally had been nominated as one of the fly-halves, so went to kick the ball into the 'goal'. He managed to score a conversion meaning Rainsbrook were now leading 7 points to 0.

As the game went on, the score kept climbing until in the last 5 minutes of the game, St Oswalds were leading 33 to 28. Rainsbrook needed to score a try to equalise and then convert to win. The ball found its way into Jason's hands as he ran down the field, being careful not to use his powers. He turned and threw the ball back into the waiting arms of Wally. He ran forward, dodging the opposition. Alex moved up behind him and took the ball in his arms. He noticed Ben was nearby and threw the ball with great accuracy into his awaiting hands.

Ben was struck momentarily with shock at the fact he had the ball in the final two minutes of the game. With encouragement from his team mates and those who gathered around the pitch, he ran forward and jumped into the air. He spread out his arms and made sure he held on tight to the ball. Gravity came into play and he began to fall back down, stomach first. He landed over the line, with the ball next to him, his hand still firmly attached to it. Well, those sticky spider like hands came in useful.

The crowd and team erupted in joy. Ben's try had equalised the score. It was now 33 to 33. The conversion was needed to get those two crucial points to take Rainsbrook to victory. The team nominated Ben to take the kick.

The referee placed the ball down and invited Ben up to pace out. He looked carefully at the position of everything. His spider sense seemed to be helping him to gage where to send the ball. He tried to ignore it and do this on his own and without his powers. He pulled back his leg, took aim and thrust his foot forward, slamming it into the ball. He, the team and crowd watched, with baited breath, as the ball flew through the air and passed straight through the centre of the upright goal posts. Ben had done it, those two crucial winning points were theirs.

The team and home crow erupted in cheers as they all ran towards Ben. They lifted him up and onto their shoulders.

"Well done Ben!" Alex shouted over the crowd, a large smile filling his face.

"Thanks!" Ben shouted back.

As he was crowd surfed, Ben caught a glimpse of his parents standing at the side of the pitch, glee and joy emanating from them. He smiled back towards them.

Down on the ground, Wally was being "strangled" by his girlfriend Rachel.

"You played so well," she said to him, as she leaned in to give him a big kiss.

They released each other and Rachel looked down at his kit.

"At least there is no mud, you would have ruined my clothes in that hug."

"Its all about the clothes with you isn't it?" Wally teased.

Rachel put a look of mock offence on her face. They each smiled at each other and embraced once more.

Over to one side Jason stood with Lois as she congratulated him on the success. Clark was not with them, but Jason's super senses had alerted him to the fact that there was something floating a distance above them. He looked up and used his super sight to see that Clark was in fact there, but dressed as Superman. He must have been on patrol. Jason could see a smile on his face. He grinned back.

* * *

Later on, Jason lay, still wearing his kit, on his bed. His laptop was perched on his chest, the screen tilted down so he could see the video that he was watching. When it finished, he clicked back to the homepage and pressed the 'Most Popular' link. The first video that came up made him sit up straight and spin his legs over his bed. He sat there and clicked onto the video. It loaded up and began playing. He paused it and shouted,

"Wally, come in here!"

The sound of Wally rushing out of his and down the landing, was instantaneous. He burst through Jason's door and asked,

"What is it?"

"Look at this."

Wally moved round and sat next to Jason on the bed. Jason clicked play.

"People of the world, I have another warning for those who are in my way. If you cross me in my next plan, you will suffer greatly. I will be victorious and no one will be able to defeat me. Consider yourselves warned."

The video finished, leaving Wally and Jason sitting there, again horrified at what had been said. He was definitely going after Superman and still against the three of them.

"What should we do?" Jason asked.

"Tell your dad?" Wally asked as a proposal.

"Yeah we could do, but it sounds like an attack is coming soon."

"But we don't know when and we can't stop your dad from going out on duty."

"I suppose, because he will also go after those who will try and stop him."

There was a knock on Jason's door. It opened and Clark stood on the other side.

"So, there has been another threat then. What did you make of the video?"

"Dad, we need to stop him, he's a maniac."

"Its fine, I will be ok. Did you see anything in the video that you thought odd?"

"No, did we miss something?" Wally asked.

"Well, I may be making something out of nothing, but did you notice in the background, near the bottom left hand corner there is a bag sitting on the floor and just poking out of it is a piece of clothing that looks very much like the kit you are wearing."

"Where?" Jason asked.

"It is about half way through, when he turns the camera."

Jason rewound the video to the part which Clark had said and clicked play again. Almost immediately, he paused the video as the items mentioned came into view. Both Jason and Wally studied the image carefully, using the kit that Jason was still wearing to make certain that what they were looking at, was correct.

"That is definitely one of our new rugby kits," Wally said.

"That means that this is someone on the team, but who?" Jason asked.

"Do you recognise anything about him?" Clark asked.

"There is something," Wally started to say, "but, I can't be certain what exactly."

"Right, then your next mission is to scope out your team discreetly, trying not to give away your identities. What we don't know is if this is one person acting alone or a group of people. He must be one clever kid to have come up with the attacks he has."

"We have a meeting tomorrow in the changing rooms about next week's match, so we will start to look then," Wally stated.

"Warn Ben and be careful," Clark agreed with their idea. "I need to go out on patrol now, but I will alert Batman on the developments."

Clark moved towards the door. As he did so, he began to remove his shirt, revealing his costume below. He opened the door and with a sudden burst of speed, disappeared leaving his clothes in a pile on the landing.

"I still find that so cool," Wally said in awe.

"When you have stopped drooling over the 'coolness' of my dad, can we get on with devising a plan for tomorrow?" asked Jason.

"You can't deny that wasn't cool though?" protested Wally.

"Yeah it was cool," conceded Jason.

The two lads then set down working out how they were going to determine which member of their team was after Superman.

* * *

Back in the secret base of the masked figure, he sat there at his computer watching as his video's figures grew and grew. He gave a small chuckle at the panic he had most likely caused with his threats at the man of steel. He and his new 'heroes' had managed to thwart him once, but not again. His next attack was going to be bigger and more daring.

He stood from his chair and moved over to the bag on the floor. He lifted it up onto a table and began rifling through it to find his 'civilian' clothes. He pulled off his skin tight black top, to reveal a well toned figure. He folded it neatly, placing it back into the bag. He took a plain blue, loose T-shirt and pulled it over his head. Next he replaced his trousers with a dark pair of jeans and his boots for trainers. The last item he removed was his mask. He placed that into the bag and zipped it up. Stepping into a light area his face came into view. He gathered all his things together and headed out, down his secret tunnel and out into the busy London streets. Moving forward, he blended in to the crowds on the street, perfectly disguising himself from any spying eyes. Tomorrow he was going to unleash his next plan. Let's just hope those meddling heroes stay out of his way, or he would have to get rid of them as well.


	14. Is he dead?

"Where are Rory, Matthew and Alex?" Mr Sanders asked as he walked into the changing room the next day.

The team had assembled for a quick meeting about the match next week against St John's Wood Secondary School. However, three of their members hadn't turned up, most unlike them.

"Not sure Sir, they have not told us anything," Jason said.

"Well we need to have this meeting anyway."

Mr Sanders went through all the details for the next match and made sure everyone was happy with what they were assigned.

Soon they headed out to the canteen for lunch.

"Where are those three, it isn't like them to miss a meeting like that, unless they are ill. However they normally let one of us know don't they?" Wally said.

"Yeah, we won't be able to tag them today," Jason said.

"But can we be certain that it is a member of the team? Could it be one of the teachers, they were also wearing similar kit yesterday?" Wally asked.

"They look to young to be one of the teachers. It is definitely one or more members of the team."

"But why would they do this, what is their motive?"

"Yeah, that is the bit that I have been puzzling over. What possible motive could they have for wanting to kill dad, but also attack us?"

Ben wandered over to the table as he brought his dinner from the kitchens.

"Hey how's it going?" he asked.

"We're good thanks," Jason replied. "We were just discussing the latest developments in discovering who our attacker is."

"And?" Ben asked expectantly.

"Well apart from believing that it is definitely a member of the rugby team, we have no motive or previous knowledge of any of them trying something like this before."

"They must be pretty powerful if they think they can take on your dad."

"Or very stupid," added Wally.

"Whatever they have got planned, they are certain that they will achieve their goal and that they will rid the world of Superman and any of us if we stand in his way."

"He must be sloppy though if he left the kit in view like that," Ben thought out loud.

"Or he could be setting a trap thinking that we might expose ourselves by questioning and investigating it," added Wally.

"Then we must do as dad said. Tread carefully and be sure that whoever he is or if it is a group, they don't get wind of what we are up to. It must be a total secret."

"Agreed," Ben said.

Wally also nodded his agreement with Jason's comments.

As they were talking, the school's tannoy system came to life with Mrs Richard's voice.

"This is an emergency announcement. All pupils are to quickly and quietly return to their form rooms and staff are to join them. Members of staff who are not form tutors are to ensure all pupils are out of the corridors and other rooms and attend their from groups. Members of the senior leadership team are to meet with myself in my office. Reception staff are to seal the school gates. Move now!"

Everyone started to move toward their form rooms, some of the younger students panicking at the situation. Since the arrival of super villains, these had become common to keep kids safe in the event of an attack.

"Do you think this is a drill or the real thing?" Wally asked.

"I'm not sure, but if I had to hazard a guess, I am pretty certain that this is the real thing," Jason replied.

They walked into their form room and sat in their places. Their form teacher Mr Osbourne walked in soon after them.

"Sit down please," he asked as he moved over to the desk. "As some of you may have already guessed, this is not a drill. There has been an attack close by and we need to keep you safe. Right I need to do the register."

He reached down and opened a draw in the desk. He pulled out an iPad and set it down. Unlocking it, he loaded the registration app that the school used and set about checking every one was present.

Just as he finished the register, there was a knock at the door and Mr Jenner, one of the assistant headteachers, walked in.

"Mr Osbourne," he started. "Mrs Richards would like the year 11s moved to the hall please."

"Thank you sir," Mr Osbourne said, as Mr Jenner moved out of the room. "Ok, sensible stand up, tuck your chairs in and line up at the door please."

The class did as they were told and Mr Osbourne got to the front of the line. He led them down to the hall.

"Do you think we should go and help?" Wally asked.

"You mean leave school and go and deal with something we have no idea about?" Jason asked.

"Why not?" Ben said.

"Do you guys even have your suits with you?"

"Never leave home without it," Wally replied, a large grin on his face.

"Ok then, if it will make you happy, let's go and see what all the fuss is about," Jason said, giving in to Wally's look of pleading.

When they next passed a set of toilets, the three of them slipped inside and went into a Cubicle each. Shutting the doors, they each changed into their suits.

"Are you both ready?" Jason asked.

"Yes," came a synchronised reply from the other two.

"Ok then," began Jason as he unlocked the cubicle door and stepped out, the other two following suit. "Wally, if you speed out to the end of the corridor and open the double doors at the end, I will bring Ben and we will fly out, meeting you a short distance from the incident. Does that sound good?"

"Yep, great plan," Wally said.

"If you are ok with me hitching a lift," Ben said.

"It's no problem."

They set about initiating the plan and before long, they were on their way, Wally running and Jason with Ben, flying. They came into view of the incident, just around the corner from the school. It was in the car park of the local Tesco Supermarket. Cars were billowing smoke out of their exhausts, people running around, cowering in corners and choking. However, that wasn't the detail that drew the three heroes attention the most. In the middle of the car park stood the figure from the videos. He wore the same clothes as in each of his broadcasts, but with the addition of a long white lab coat. He was dancing around, which out of context would have looked really strange, but for the fact that towering next to him, following exactly the same moves was a ginormous robot, made from cars.

_"Whoa!"_ Wally's voice exclaimed over Jason and Ben's earpieces. _"What has it got in it's hands?"_

Jason used his x-Ray vision and scanned the robots hands. What he saw was a shock.

"It's dad," he replied bluntly.

As he did so, the robot raised his arms and brought them back down to the ground with such ferocity, that the pavement cracked all around them and left Superman sprawled on the ground, struggling to move.

"Why isn't he getting up, it should barely hurt him?" Ben asked.

"I don't know," Jason growled, "but we are going to stop it before it kills my dad."

With that, they moved in and landed in the car park, Wally skidding to a halt next to them. The masked figure turned to face them.

"So you came, after my warnings not to? Well you are to late. I am about to destroy Superman at last."

He raised his hand and the robot followed suit. He unfurled his hand and inside the robots they saw a long rod of a green, glowing material. Jason suddenly began to feel weak and fell to the ground.

"Jason, what's wrong?" Ben asked, going to his friend's aid.

"Its Kryptonite," the figure stated. "Just like Superman you can't stand it's power either. Interesting, I will have to remember that. Now prepare to watch this blade enter into the man of steel's heart and kill him."

He began to bring his hand down, the robot mirroring his movements. Ben ran forward towards the figure. In response, the figure threw various objects with his spare hand at Ben, who using some techniques taught to him by Alex, dodged each of the items.

The figure watched with a mixture of amazement and horror. He began to bring his hand down faster. Ben noticed this and quickly changed direction, heading to Superman's aid. Wally took Ben's position in trying to stop the figure and they had managed to get into a fight. The robot continued to match the movements and began to move erratically. Using more of his learned techniques, Ben managed to swerve around its legs and into the crater where Superman lay.

"Here, give me your hand," he told the weakened hero.

As he bent forward to help Clark stand, his body was suddenly hit with an excruciating pain. His hand went limp and he looked down at his torso. The Kryptonite rod was jutting out of his chest, blood dripping from it. With a great tug, the robot pulled the rod out and Ben crumpled to the ground. Everything from there was a blur. He was aware of the cry of exasperation from the masked figure and the shouts of pain and horror from Jason and Wally. He lay there on the ground, the pain worse than any he had ever encountered before. Blackness began to fold over him as he slipped from consciousness. Before he black out totally, he became aware of arms reaching around his body and lifting it up, cradling him gently. What happened next, he did not know, because that was when he decided to lose consciousness.

* * *

The masked figure had managed to escape and he stormed into his lair in a mixture of exasperation and horror. His plan had been thwarted once again, but worse than that, he had just plunged a rod of Kryptonite into his friend's chest. He pulled his mask off, tears streaming from his face. He had recognised those moves as the new Spiderman dodged around his attacks, because he had taught them to only one other person. Ben Parker.

Alex Manning sat there wondering how his friend could actually be one of the people that was trying to stop him. He was new to the school! How could he have know what was happening? Alex broke down more, slamming his head into his folded arms on the table. How much did Ben know? Did he know of Alex's identity? He needed to find out and if he did, silencing him forever was the only option.


	15. Hospital

Lois power walked down the hospital corridor and stopped at a nurses station.

"Hello there, can I help you?" asked one of the nurses sat behind the desk.

"Hi I am here to see my son, he was brought in with Ben Parker."

"Are you Mrs Kent?"

"Yes I am."

"Good to see you, we were informed you would be coming, if you would like to follow me."

The nurse stood up, gathered a few bit of paper together and then walked out from behind the desk. She beckoned for Lois to follow her and led them down a corridor to a set of double doors that were shut. The nurse pulled out a key fob from her pocket and placed it onto a reader that was to the right of the doors. A green light appeared and the nurse pushed the left hand door open. They walked through into a very different looking part of the hospital.

"Welcome to our super hero wing. We work closely with the Justice League to maintain this part of the hospital. Your son is with his friends in the last room on your left. Call us if there are any problems."

With that, the nurse left Lois to walk down the corridor on her own. As she approached the room where Ben, Jason and Wally were, she slowed down. Looking to her left, she could see through the window and what she saw horrified her. Ben lay in bed, tubes sticking out of various areas and bloodied sheets over him. Jason and Wally sat opposite, watching their friend breathe slowly as he slept. Mary-Jane sat next to the bed holding her son's hand and resting her head against his arm. She appeared to be asleep.

Lois opened the door and as she did so, Mary-Jane awoke and they all turned to face the door.

"Mum!" Jason cried as he jumped to his feet. Lois hadn't noticed that he too was covered in blood, but thankfully not his own.

* * *

FLASHBACK

"NO!" Wally cried as he watched the rod impale Ben.

He let go of the masked figure and ran towards Ben. As he did so, the robot pulled the rod out and Ben crumpled to the ground. The robot then came crashing down on the ground, the cars making it up, separated into their own selves. Wally looked round for the masked figure, but he had disappeared, taking the Kryptonite rod with him. Jason hobbled over, the effects of the radiation beginning to wear off. Wally leant down and folded his arms around Ben. As he did so, Jason went to tend to Clark.

"We need to get him to a hospital, he is losing to much blood," Wally shouted over to Jason.

"Get him to St. Thomas, we have an arrangement there with them. Just say Superman sent you," Clark said as he stood up with Jason's assistance.

Soon Clark was strong enough to hold himself up, the power of the yellow sun restoring his body.

"I need to go and speak with the league, I think I have a lead they can use."

With that and before Jason could protest, Clark shot off into the sky and out of their view.

"We need to go," Wally said. "Are you ok to fly if I run carrying him?"

"Yeah, you get going, I will meet you there."

Wally sped off, Ben carefully laying in his arms. Jason looked around at the devastation that had been created due to the masked figure. He had a lot of questions to answer for.

Wally arrived at St. Thomas and to his surprise there were two doctors waiting for him.

"You must be Kid Flash," one of them said. She wore her scrubs, as though ready for surgery. "Superman told us you were coming."

Kid Flash, Wally liked that.

"Yes, you need to help him please."

Jason arrived that second, landing next to the awaiting gurney that the doctors had brought for Ben.

"And you must be Superboy. Please put your friend on the gurney and we will get him sorted out."

Wally did as instructed and the doctors launched into action to get him inside.

"Nurse Williams here will take you to a waiting area," the doctor said, pointing to a nurse as they rushed through the door.

"This way," she said.

The nurse led the two teenagers away from their friend down a corridor and through a set of double doors that required a key fob to get access.

"If you wait in here," nurse Williams said, as she pointed to a room with several seats and refreshment machines. "You are welcome to de-mask if you wish, you are currently the only heroes here at the moment. This area is completely sealed off from the public and all the staff in this department are League vetted."

"Thank you," Jason said, sinking into a chair, exhaustion washing over him.

"We will let you know of any developments as soon as they happen," the nurse said, before she left the room shutting the door behind her.

Wally followed Jason's example and sat down in one of the seats. Soon enough, both of them were asleep, tired from the days horrific events. They were woken when the door opened again. Through it came Mary- Jane.

"Thank you so much for saving him," she said as she moved over to the two boys who had now stood up at her entrance. She hugged them both, tears streaming down her face.

"The doctors have told me that he is responding well to the surgery they are doing, but they have had to put him into an induced coma because of the severity of the damage, but you both helped him."

* * *

FLASH FORWARD

"Jason I am so relieved you are ok," Lois said hugging her son. "How could you be so stupid? I got a call from the school saying you had both gone missing along with Ben. It wasn't until your father called and told me you were ok and what had happened I could lie to the school about your attendance."

"What did you say?" Jason asked.

"I told them that I had come to get you early as you had to be at the Dentists. I had to convince them that the three of you all had the same one, so because of busy parents, we did the trip at the same time. It was the worst lie I have ever concocted."

"It's my fault Mrs Kent," Wally said. "I convinced them both to go and help with the attack."

"That may be so Wally, but Jason is as much to blame for going along with the plan. I leave Mary-Jane here to meet out her opinion on Ben's actions."

"All I can say is, he is his father's son."

There was a knock on the door and the doctor from earlier walked in.

"Sorry to interrupt," she said, "I thought I would come and let you know the results of the surgery."

"Please come in," Mary-Jane said.

"Thank you. Well the results are fantastic news. We have been able to repair the damaged organs and tissue and also have begun a stimulated treatment to speed along the body's natural healing process. However, it will take slightly longer than normal as the damage was quite severe. We will be bringing him out of the coma shortly, but I must warn you that for the next couple of days, he will be quite tired and unresponsive. The healing process is exhausting on the body."

"Thank you doctor, that is wonderful news," Mary-Jane said, a smile forming on her face.

"I will be back in a minute and then we will begin bringing him out of the coma."

The doctor left the room and shortly retuned with another colleague. They moved around the bed and began to remove some of the tubes. She injected a clear solution into Ben's arm and then stood back and monitored the machines. Soon Ben began to twitch his fingers as he slowly and surely regained consciousness.

"Hey there sweetheart," Mary-Jane said, rubbing her hand through his hair.

"Hi," croaked Ben. "I feel like I have been hit by a car."

"Several actually," Jason said.

"We'll leave you to it," the doctor said as she and her colleague left the room.

"Did he get away?" Ben asked, after they left.

"Yeah, he ran off when we came to get you."

"I know who he is."

"How?" Wally asked.

"He gave himself away."

Ben tried to sit up, but collapsed back down onto the bed.

"Try not to move sweetie," Mary-Jane said.

"What did he do to tell you who he is?" Lois asked. "I've looked through all my files and can't see anything that links to him and gives an identity."

"He moved in a particular way, something I had only recently learnt myself."

Wally's face suddenly dropped.

"Of course, I now know who it is. I knew there was something about him I recognised."

"What?" Jason asked exasperated. "What am I the only person who doesn't know who did it?"

"Um we don't know either," Lois said pointing at herself and Mary-Jane.

"I remember when we first saw his videos that there was a feature of his body that I recognised, but couldn't place. The more I thought about it, the more it bugged me, but now I know why and what it was. There was a small lump on his left shoulder near to the neck, as if there was a bolt in there to secure a metal plate in place."

"Oh my goodness," Jason said, his mouth hanging open in shock.

"And the penny drops," Ben said, managing a sly smile.

"Ha, ha," Jason replied. "But it can't be him, why would he do these things?"

"That is what I don't know," Wally said.

"Excuse me, you keep saying you know the attacker of my son, but you still haven't told us," Mary-Jane said.

"Alex Manning," the three lads said together.

"Alex, your friend?" Lois asked. "But he was always such a nice lad."

"I know, that is why I can't believe this," Jason said. "Now I think about it, the lump on the shoulder confirms it. I remember him breaking his collar bone quite badly a few years ago in a skiing holiday."

"I think he knows who I am," Ben said.

"How?" Wally asked.

"For one of the reasons I recognised him. I used a couple of his moves in the attack."

"That means he may want to try and silence you for good," Jason pondered.

"We need to set a trap," Wally decided.

"How?" Lois asked.

"If we can get him moved to a room in the main part of the hospital, we can put out an announcement at school inviting small groups to come and visit and when he comes, he is likely to come alone. That is when we let him into the room and then he can confess. When he does, we can pounce and arrest him."

"Sounds like a plan, but your dad is going to be here incase anything goes wrong," Lois said.

"That is probably for the best, I want Peter there to," Mary-Jane added.

"What do you want me to do?" Peter said as he walked through the door.

"Peter, I'm glad you could make it."

Mary-Jane flung her arms around her husband.

"Hi soldier, how are you doing?" Peter asked Ben.

"I've been better," came the reply.

"So, what do you want me to do?"

They ran through the plan once more and waited for Peter's reply.

"It's a good plan and I think we should definitely put it into action."

"Then that is what we will do," Jason said. "I will go and make arrangements with the doctors and get them up on what we need."

"I suppose I should phone the school in the morning and give them instructions on visiting," Peter said.

They got to it, ready to apprehend the criminal who had hurt them all so much, when they thought he was a friend.


	16. Mt Justice

"And if any of you would like to visit Ben in hospital, then please come and tell us in the office and we will arrange with his parents a time to visit."

Mrs Richards stood in front of Year 11 in assembly, several of them shocked at the news of Ben being attacked. She had called an emergency assembly to tell them about it, before rumours started to spread around school. Of course much of what she had told them, was lies, not that she knew that either. It was a cleverly concocted story by Jason, Wally, Ben and Clark to put people off of the scent. However there was one person in the room who knew that a lot of the explanation for Ben's hospitalisation was not true.

Alex Manning sat in the hall, but he wasn't really listening to what was being said. He was still trying to get over the fact that his new friend, was in fact someone who he was an enemy with. How he hadn't seen it baffled him. The clues had all been there, but clearly he wasn't clever enough to piece them together until the most obvious clue came along.

They were dismissed from the hall and Alex went straight away up to Mrs Richards. He needed to see Ben alone, find out how much he knew and eradicate him. Every time he thought of this plan, the more he hated it and the less he wanted to carry it out.

"Yes Mr Manning, can I help you?" Mrs Richards asked.

"Yes Miss, I would like to go and visit Ben please," he asked as innocently as possible.

That was one of the most unusual requests Mrs Richards had received from a parent. In the conversation she had had with Mrs Parker, there was a specific request that Alex Manning be sent on his own, but was not to be told that this was so. There was no other explanation given, but Mrs Richards agreed to follow through with the request.

"Certainly Alex, what time would you like me to put you down for?"

She presented him with a list of times.

"Five o'clock today will be great thanks."

"Ok, I will let Mrs Parker know."

"Thank you."

Alex walked away and off to class, tonight it was.

* * *

Back at the hospital, plans had been set in motion. Ben was moved from his room in the private part of the hospital, to one in the regular area. Some of the doctors had been brought from the Justice League area to cover for the normal doctors and they had been briefed on what was going on. Clark was on standby around the hospital, flying around and keeping an eye on people entering and leaving.

The time ticked by as they waited for the call from Mrs Richards as to who was coming to visit that day. Eventually it came. Mary-Jane picked up the phone. She was surrounded by Peter, Lois, Jason and Wally. The latter two had taken the day off of school, because they were still slightly shaken up from the incident, or at least that is what the school thought.

"Hello, Mary-Jane Parker," she said as she put the phone to her ear.

"Good afternoon Mrs Parker, it is Mrs Richards here from Rainsbrook. I am calling about the list of people who would like to come and visit today if Ben is up to it."

"Oh hello, yes he is fine to receive visitors today."

"Excellent. Well there are several people who would like to come and visit."

Mrs Richards read out the list of names of people who had requested to come and Mary-Jane confirmed that that was alright. Alex was on it, the plan could begin.

* * *

Later that day, the clock read 4:45, fifteen minutes before Alex was supposed to be going to visit Ben. Mary-Jane was ushering out the current set of guests, citing that Ben needed rest before the next visitors. As planned, she left the room with them and talked with them until they left the hospital. As they were walking out, she noticed Alex walking in in the opposite direction. Neither had met, but Ben had shown her a photo of him. As much as she wanted to go over and strangle that idiot, she restrained herself and carried on talking to the other guys.

Alex rounded the corner of the ward Ben was on and came to a standstill outside his room. He knocked gently, took a deep breath and walked in.

Ben lay there silently as planned, pretending to be asleep. Alex walked up to the side of the bed and sat down in the chair that was next to it.

"Hey Ben," Alex said. "Sorry about what that guy did to you, hope you are feeling better."

Ben stirred slightly to make it look like he was just waking up.

In a groggyish voice he said, "you mean you did. You did this to me Alex and I thought we were friends."

"We were, but then you started messing with my plans, destroying my hard work. You and your friends knew I was going after you if you tried to thwart my plans, but you didn't listen," Alex spoke, his tone getting harder and sterner. "And now i have confirmed you know about me, I am afraid you can no longer be trusted. I really don't want to do this, but there is no other way."

Alex stood and moved closer to the bed. He pulled out a syringe from his pocket and uncapped the needle. He pushed the sleeve of Ben's hospital gown up and placed the needle against his skin. Ben 'struggled' slightly to keep up the pretence.

"There is no point in struggling, you are to weak to do anything, let alone call someone."

Alex placed his thumb on the syringe trigger and began to slowly push the needle into Ben's arm.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a strong voice said.

Alex whipped round and came face to face with Superman. With lightning speed, Superman caught hold of Alex and slapped a pair of hand cuffs on him and flung him into the chair. Ben sat up and yanked the needle out of his arm.

"But you should still be weak?" Alex protested.

"I am, but I am healing faster than I thought I would," Ben replied.

"You have a lot of questions to answer," Superman said. "But not here, we are going somewhere a little more private."

Superman lifted Alex out of the seat and moved his hand down to his belt. There he pressed the 'S' symbol. In a flash of light, they both disappeared from the room, leaving Ben laying there on his own. Seconds later Mary-Jane walked in.

"Have they gone? Did it work?" she asked.

"It worked perfectly, he is now in League custody."

* * *

Thousands of miles away in the hollowed out Mt Justice, a bright light appeared and then as quickly as it came it went leaving Superman and Alex standing there. They moved through the mountain until Superman locked Alex in a room where there stood a table, two chairs and one wall was a mirror. The door simply read 'INTERROGATION'.

In a room next door stood Spider-man, Superman, Batman, Superboy and Kid Flash. They watched Alex as he wandered around the room, probably contemplating his fate at the hands of the League.

"So, who is going to interrogate him?" Superman asked.

"Me, I want to," Superboy said. Underneath his mask Jason's face was angry, furious in fact. He needed answers and he wanted to actually be the one to get them out of Alex.

"And me," piped up Kid Flash he to wanted answers.

"Good idea, he still doesn't know your identities yet, he might talk to people more of his age," Batman said.

"Bruce are you sure, it really should be one of us who does the interrogating," Superman said.

"No it has to be them. He doesn't trust you, Spider-man is the victim's father and he won't talk to me, so they need to have a go."

Superman relented and let Superboy and Kid Flash leave the room and head next door. When they entered, Alex jumped and sped to the table and sat down.

"Have you come to hurt me?" he asked, fear starting to find its way into his voice.

"No, but that is an interesting proposition," Superboy said. "We simply need to ask you some questions."

Superboy sat down at the table, leaving Kid Flash standing at the door.

"The first question is why?"

"You want to know why I did it?" Alex repeated.

"Yes, why all the attacks and threats?"

"Revenge, plain and simple. I wanted to get back at the person who killed my father."

"And who killed your father?"

"Superman."

"And when did Superman kill your father?" Kid Flash asked.

"Two thousand and eight in Chicago, he was the villain behind the attacks there."

* * *

Behind the mirror Batman and Spider-man turned their heads to look at Superman.

"I was there, but I didn't kill him. We fought for a while, but in the commotion I lost him. I presumed he had escaped, I didn't think he had died."

"What was he called?" Batman asked.

"The Tinkerer. He used advanced technology to to aid in his crimes. Like father, like son."

They turned their attention back to what was going on next door.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. You decided that because your father was 'killed' by Superman, you would go after him and endanger many innocent people along the way?"

"He killed my father!" Alex shouted angrily. "Of course I was going to get revenge."

"And you are trying to kill my father!" Jason responded as he ripped his mask off, to the shock of Kid Flash and the adults in the other room.

Alex sat there, mouth open in amazement.

"You, another friend of mine out against me." He turned to face Kid Flash. "Let me guess, we have had Ben, now Jason, so you must be Wally."

Wally removed his mask.

"Well deduced, but it still doesn't mean you are going to get away with what you have done."

Suddenly a loud beeping noise filled the room.

"What is that?" Jason asked.

They all looked towards the source of the noise, Alex's wrist. The door burst open and the three adult heroes rushed into the room. Batman went straight over to Alex and removed his watch, the source of the beeping. He laid it carefully on the table.

"What does this mean?" he demanded in his short tempered way.

"I, don't know. It has never done this before."

The screen of the watch had gone from an analogue face to that of a small LCD screen displaying a green button.

"Press the button," Batman ordered Alex.

He didn't need to be told twice. He reached over and pressed the screen with his index finger. When he had done, a small holographic figure appeared, floating above the watch. It began to speak.

_"Well done son, I see that you have kept the watch that I gave you in New York. It has confirmed that your DNA was present in accepting this call. Hopefully by now you will have discovered my secret lair where I came up with my plans to take over the world. I am alive and well, getting ready for you to get rid of Superman so I can enact my plans. They are brilliant and require the eradication of these so called heroes, especially Superman, to be successful. You and I will rule the world together, destroying anyone who will stand in our way. You will be able to use your superior technological knowledge to improve my weaponry to maximise the submission of the world to our way. I will contact you again when this watch receives confirmation that Superman is dead."_

The hologram flickered out of existence, leaving the room in silence.

"Did you know anything about this?" Batman asked, breaking the silence.

"No, please I am telling the truth. I only wanted revenge against Superman, I thought he was dead."

"We need to get the league together and have an emergency meeting," Superman said.

"You two lads stay here and guard the prisoner and we will be back soon," Batman ordered.

The three men left the room and shut the door behind them.

"Jason, Wally," Alex began. "You have to believe me, I didn't know anything about this. I don't want to rule the world. I was only after revenge. Please I don't want to be like him, I don't want to destroy the world."

Alex's eyes were streaming with tears as he pleaded with the two teenage heroes.

"_He is telling the truth_," a voice said inside of their heads.

They all turned around to see the Martian Manhunter floating through the door and into the room.

"He means well and is full of forgiveness for the actions that he has taken," Manhunter said aloud.

"I really am. If I could turn back time I would stop myself from doing those things," Alex burst out again.

Jason thought for a moment about what both Alex and the Manhunter had said, before he gave his opinion.

"Although I can't forget what you have done and may take a while to ever trust you again, Martian Manhunter has helped me see what you truly think, so I am prepared to forgive you. If what your father says is true, we are going to need your help in disabling his weapons."

"I will do whatever you ask me to do." His face then suddenly fell. "How am I ever going to face Ben again after what I did to him? I can't even forgive myself of what I did, let alone what he would say."

Wally walked over to the mirrored wall and pressed a hidden button. After he had done so, the mirror changed to become a giant computer screen. On display was a Skype video call to Ben himself. He had heard everything. Wally activated the speakers.

"Alex," Ben began. "After all you taught me and how nicely you accepted my presence at the school, I am really struggling to believe what you have done. However, I forgive you completely as you never know, I might have done the same."

"I am so sorry Ben, I don't know how you can forgive me. What I did was terrible, there is no excuse for it."

"Well you can redeem yourself by helping us catch your dad and stop thousands of innocent people being hurt, or worse killed."

"I will do. I hope to show you that I am a good friend and someone who can be trusted."

"Right, I think we better go and tell the adults of our plan," Jason said.

"No need, we already know," Superman said behind them.

"And?" Wally asked, turning to face him.

"It's a good plan, but we will be there in case anything goes wrong. We would also like Alex to wear this," he held up a small device attached to a strap. "It is a monitoring device, that will allow us to track your every movement. You will always be in our sight as you can't take it off. Trust me, even the strongest people, such as myself, can't rip it off so there is no chance you would be able to."

"Whatever you want me to do, I will comply with," Alex said.

Superman walked over, his cape billowing around him and attached the device to Alex's right wrist. As he did so, a green light appeared and an automated voice said _"ONLINE"_.

"Right, we leave the plans in your hands. Go and catch this idiot," Superman said.

He walked out of the room, leaving the three teenagers and Ben via Skype to come up with a plan.


End file.
